


A Shark Dressed in White

by Keromenson



Series: A Shark Dressed in White [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: A Shark Dressed in White AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Faunus!Weiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-05-24 16:05:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 49,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14957765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keromenson/pseuds/Keromenson
Summary: Heiress to one of the biggest Dust companies in the world.  Famous singer.  Huntress in training.  Weiss Schnee is known for all of these things.  She has a secret though.  One she keeps hidden from all but those few she trusts the most.  A secret that could destroy her future if it got out.  Now, living at the Academy and rooming with 3 other girls, can she keep herself from being found out? (Covers Volumes 1-3)Inspired by the Great Weiss Shark AU by Spudato





	1. Forward

Just a few things before we start this fic off. I got the idea of a shark Faunus Weiss from the Great Weiss Shark AU. Go check it out. Beyond that, there is basically nothing in common between that AU and this story, but I felt that I should give them the credit of giving me the idea of making Weiss a shark. This story will mostly follow canon. It is still a Canon Divergent AU though.

2nd. This is primarily a Weiss focused fic, but will not focus on her or her point of view exclusively. Other characters will get 'screen time.'

3rd thing to mention, I don't have a definite plan for how this fic goes, as chapters get written out of order at times. I have most of the current chapters written, so I will be releasing them about once a week so hopefully Volume 6 will be mostly out by the time I get finished posting up through Volume 5 so I can continue the story from there. It will mostly follow canon, but I generally think up a major plot point or just a quote I want to put in, and build a chapter around that. Sometimes I have a random thought while writing a chapter and throw it in because I think it is interesting. At that point I have the habit of going back in my story and writing a chapter or two based on that one throw away line. That being said, once a chapter is posted, I will not add chapters before it in the story timeline.

4th thing, Character sexualities (straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, demisexual, ect.) are all up in the air until I decide to give them one. Character sexualities will develop as the character does in the story, with the exception of canon LGBTQ characters (i.e. Illia will always be gay, although she may become bi if I see evidence supporting that in canon.). While I am not against non-binary gender ideas at all (My spouse is genderfluid), there will be no trans/non-binary/ect. characters in this story simply because I am not educated enough on the subject to feel I can write it properly.

Lastly, **SHIPPING!** Ok, now that I have the attention of those that care about ships, a few things. I am ok with poly ships, so those might happen. While I have certain ships I like more than others, I have no OTPs and in general enjoy any ship. There are some exceptions to this. I do not write incest or have wildly older characters with younger characters. (So, there will be no Enabler or Winter/Weiss pairs, or Weiss/Ironwood, Whitley/Ozpin, ect. pairings, although siblings might both date a 3rd person at the same time) Also, I do not write smut, but if I ever do, it will only be between characters that are at least 18 in the story timeline. (Weiss, Yang, Blake are all 17 in volume 1-3, but in Volume 4+ they would be 18 due to the time skip.) I am very open minded, but these are hardline issues with me so please do not demand I include these.

I started this story with zero ships in mind. As I write the story, if I see a potential pair forming, I might roll with it. Characters may get into minor relationships or go on dates, but no ship is official until the pairing is placed in the tags. If it looks like a ship is happening that you don't like, don't freak out unless that ship gets tagged as official. I've been around the fandom long enough to know that people will abandon a story just because they don't like a single character, or a certain ship. (I'm looking at you Bumblebee and BlackSun shippers.  Some of you can get real crazy.) Relationships will form as naturally as I can make them. If a breakup happens between 2 characters, I will probably add a tag noting that, ("past [insert ship name here]") while still leaving the relationship tagged to indicate it was at one time an official ship.

 

New chapters will probably be posted on Saturdays at least until I am caught up through Volume 5. 

 

Ok, all of that being said, please enjoy.


	2. Rememberance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so here we go. This story starts slightly after the start of Volume 2.

_"Hey! I said I was sorry princess!"_

_"Read this and never talk to me again."_

_"You came back!"_

_"If we are going to do this, we are going to have to do this together."_

_"Think you can make the shot?"_

_"Lead by...Ruby Rose."_

_"Ozpin made a mistake!"_

_"So instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do."_

_"Be not the best leader, but the best person you can be."_

_"I'm going to be the best teammate ever."_

_"Hey Ruby. I always wanted bunk beds as a kid."_

Weiss' eyes snapped open. She had been thinking about those first few days she spent at Beacon. Her first semester did not go at all like she expected. Fights with her teammates, building deathtraps for sleeping arrangements, dealing with bullies, secrets revealed. Emotions ran high for awhile, and it was good to finally have things settle down and get a chance to just...breathe.   
Weiss counted herself lucky that Beacon had rooms with bathtub/shower combos instead of just communal showers. She preferred cold water for her baths, so usually no one really complained about how long she took since she wasn't using up any of the hot water. When asked about it, she just said that she was used to the cold in Atlas and it reminded her of the good parts from home. The box of sea salt was another matter. It took some work to convince the rest of Team RWBY that it was good for her skin. 

In reality, the freezing salt water reminded her of the late night swims in the northern continent's ocean that she would sneak in whenever she managed to get close enough to the coast. _'If it wasn't because of my attitude toward everyone, pretty sure this would still make them call me 'Ice Queen'.'_ She thought with a slight chuckle. The tubs weren't overly large like her tub back at the mansion, but her smaller stature still allowed her to fully submerge herself under the water and just relax for awhile. It was like a small sensory isolation tank she could use to order her thoughts and just get away from the noise of her teammates for awhile.

Weiss liked her teammates. Really, she did, even if they got on her nerves way more than she'd like. Ruby was the easiest to get along with, despite the rocky start, but that just seemed to be because she was constantly trying to impress Weiss and prove that she belonged at Beacon. Weiss had accepted that Ruby had plenty of potential and would make a fine huntress and leader a long time ago. She had certainly earned her place at Beacon. _'If her thinking I don't take her seriously keeps her working hard and improving though, then no real harm in keeping up the act for a **little** bit longer.'_

  
Yang, Ruby's older sister, was slightly harder to work with. She was not exactly happy with how Weiss treated her sister, but Weiss liked to think she secretly knew what Weiss was doing and approved. Her outgoing nature wasn't exactly bad, but it was distracting. She did tend to 'mother' the team a bit, something Weiss actually appreciated, due to her lack of family affection back at home. Winter was the exception there, who did her best to take care of Weiss, even if it was more of a 'tough love' approach. Yang's constant teasing and horrible jokes were a different matter altogether, and annoyed Weiss to no end. (They were horrible in Weiss' opinion at least, she knew Blake got the occasional chuckle out of them)

  
Speaking of Blake; She was by far the hardest to come to terms with. Weiss' family name alone was enough to make the cat Faunus hate her on sight. Of course, Weiss didn't know about Blake's past when they first met. That was a stressful weekend, ending with Blake running off, then being found after fighting White Fang members and foiling a dust theft. Weiss surprised herself by her reaction after having twelve hours to think about the matter. Blake was a former White Fang member. At least she saw that the Fang was no longer the way to go and got out. Things improved ten-fold after Weiss told her that she didn't care as long as Blake was out now. _'Of course, things might all fall apart again if she ever figures me out.'_

Luckily, Blake would never suspect that a Schnee could be anything other than human. After all, Weiss just had to play up the prudish, sheltered angle a bit to convince them about why she never changed in front of others. That ensured that nobody saw the gills on her sides just below her bra line. Her enhanced sense of smell could just be played off as having picky taste in food. 

Just like how Blake had to downplay her enhanced hearing and night vision, Weiss just had to pretend she didn't smell certain things. Blood was the hardest to ignore (She was a shark Faunus, after all), and the smell of blood tended to make her hungry. Luckily, with a school full of Aura users, blood was actually an extremely rare thing to come across. The irony of a lack of blood at a combat school was not lost on Weiss. 

Her enhanced eyesight was easy to conceal too. It wasn't that much better than a human's, she just adjusted to the dark immediately, instead of over several minutes like a normal human. Blake's was still much better than any of them could achieve. The team usually defaulted to Blake now when night vision was needed. As long as Weiss remembered to pull back the extra set of clear eyelids that protected her eyes when she was underwater when they weren't needed, no one would be the wiser. The way the light would reflect off of them when she used them was distorted and made her eyes look odd.  
Weiss and Blake did bond over a love of fish though. While Yang liked to play up the cat Faunus thing with Blake about her love of tuna, _'Cod is so much better than tuna anyway.'_ Weiss just pointed out that the vitamins in fish were good for the brain. The fact that she and Blake had the highest grades of anyone on the team didn't hurt that argument any. 

If she hadn't been worried about a crazy, watermelon wielding Nora during that food fight, she would have eyed that swordfish for her plate instead of as a weapon. If nothing else, the fish thing gave her a starting point to work with helping talk to Blake and get her to trust that she was getting better and was getting away from her father's influence. _'And that my wariness around Faunus isn't due to hate.'_

Weiss sighed, air bubbles floating in front of her face to the surface of the water, as she pulled her waterproof watch in front of her face to check the time. _'45 minutes already? I better get ready before Yang starts pounding on the door.'_

As Weiss sat up and started draining the tub, there was said pounding on the door. "Yo, Ice Queen!" _'Right on cue'_ Weiss thought with a grin. "If you're done giving yourself hypothermia in there, we need to get going!"

"Can you even define hypothermia?" Weiss yelled back through the door. It was silent for a moment before she heard a laugh that she was pretty sure belonged to Ruby, but no reply from Yang. _'Feels good to catch her off guard for a change.'_ Weiss thought with a smile. "I'll be out in a minute!" She yelled, the grin on her face apparent in her voice.

Weiss settled the gills on her sides as flat as possible (She had to keep them closed as much as possible so they didn't get dry and uncomfortable), pulled back her extra eyelids, then got dried off and dressed as quick as possible, throwing her hair up into her off-center ponytail. Double checking that her Faunus features were all properly hidden, she walked out of the bathroom brushing her hair. 

"WEISS!" Ruby called out, running over and grabbing her arm and starting to drag her toward the door. "Come on, we are going to be late!"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Ruby, please. We have plenty of time."

"But Weiss, I wanna get there as soon as possible!"

Weiss grabbed her rapier and strapped it on her belt as she looked back to see Blake and Yang dressed and ready to go, then looked back at Ruby. "Ok, ok. We can go nooOOWWW!"

The moment Ruby got confirmation that Weiss was ready, she rapidly drug her out the door, squealing in excitement the whole way. Weiss was pretty sure she heard Yang and Blake both laughing at her before they followed the reaper and heiress.


	3. A Night on the Town

The afternoon was not as bad as Weiss feared it would be. Ruby insisted they go to an arcade. While Ruby spent her time playing shooting games, Blake and Yang decided to take each other on at a dancing rhythm game. Weiss liked to dance, but that was not her type of dancing, so she decided to look around for awhile, eventually stumbling upon something simple, yet interesting. _'Who would have thought 'Skeeball' would be so enjoyable?'_ Luckily, the arcade was on the boardwalk, which was near the harbor. The smell of fish permeated the air, making Weiss' stomach growl. Ruby complained about the smell, but Blake caught Weiss' eye, having heard the growl, and grinned, inclining her head toward a nearby seafood restaurant.

"Oh, wow. Is it supper time already?" Blake said with mock innocence.

This threw up all sorts of red flags in Yang's head, and she looked over to see the restaurant her partner was looking at. "Blake, no..."

"Blake, yes." came the reply from Weiss and they both started jogging toward the restaurant with smiles on their faces, leaving the two sisters standing there looking at each other.

Weiss yelled back over her shoulder. "I'll buy."

Yang groaned. "Those two love fish WAY too much."

"I'm starting to wonder if Weiss is secretly a cat Faunus too." Ruby stated.

Yang perked up as jokes popped into her head at that statement.

"Well, I don't think she is hiding an extra set of ears, but you could always see if she has a tail hidden under her skirt." Yang never really understood her sister's fascination with the heiress, but she could always tease her about it.

Ruby started thinking about how Weiss would hide a cat tail. "Maybe she wraps it around her waist like a belt or..."

Until she finally realized exactly what her sister was insinuating and her eyes went wide.

"YAAANNNGGG! NO! EWW! Not cool!" Ruby replied looking aghast.

_'What kind of weirdo looks up someone else's skirt?'_

Yang laughed, cutting her sister some slack. "Ok, ok. I'm kidding. Come on, let's get going before those two eat everything in the building."

"They can eat all the fish as far as I'm concerned." Ruby replied while holding her nose from the smell of the harbor as she led Yang toward the restaurant, hoping to find something on the menu she would like.

Supper wasn't as bad as Ruby feared. Cooked fish didn't smell nearly as bad as raw fish from the harbor, and the restaurant had a few things other than seafood. Since Weiss said she was buying, Ruby also ordered the salad bar. Weiss was impressed, thinking that Ruby might finally start to eat healthier. _'Maybe she will finally try a salad.'_

That thought was shot down when Ruby came back with nothing but a bowl full of strawberries. _'Well, at least it is fruit. That is healthier than some of the other stuff she could have gotten.'_

Since Ruby chose the arcade that afternoon and Weiss and Blake insisted on the seafood restaurant for supper, Yang decided to choose the last destination for the evening, arguing that everyone else chose a destination, so she gets one too. The others were not exactly on board when she brought them to a pub.

Ruby was the first to voice her opinion. "Yang, none of us are old enough to be in there, especially me."

Yang was quick to cover that angle. "Don't worry sis, age laws for being in the building don't go in effect until 9pm. We've got two hours before we have to leave."

Weiss picked up next. "Yang, if we aren't old enough to drink, what is the point of going to a bar?"

Yang just gave Weiss a grin that said 'you'll see' and led the group inside, sweeping her arm out over the room. The pub, obviously, had a bar and some tables, but what took up most of the room was multiple billiard tables. Yang gave the others a huge grin. "Ladies, welcome to the greatest pool hall in Vale. So...any of you play before?"

Ruby shook her head no. She had watched Yang play a few time back on Patch when she was still too small to play herself, but remembered the basics.

Weiss looked at Yang. "I've tried once back at the manor. Father did not really approve. He said it was a 'gentleman's game'. I do understand the rules though."

Blake gave Yang a grin. "I may have played once or twice."

Yang thought for a moment. "Ok, since Blake and I have played before, why don't we do pairs? Since I've played the most, I'll team with Ruby. You two can be the other team. Sound good?"

Weiss and Blake looked at each other and Blake gave Weiss a wink. Weiss looked back at Yang. "That sounds...acceptable."

As the girls set up the table, Yang went over the rules real quick to make sure everyone was on the same page. "Ok, standard eight ball. First ball that gets knocked in determines if you are solids or stripes. Get all of yours in and then try to get the eight ball in to win. Knock the eight ball in before you get all of yours in, you lose."

While setting up, Weiss took a couple of the billiard balls and bounced them in her hand a couple times, testing their weight. Yang gave her a huge grin.

Weiss glared at her. "Yang, I swear, you make a lewd joke right now, I'm leaving."

Yang kept grinning but shrugged her shoulders and kept quiet. Each of the girls grabbed a cue, WBY taking time to check multiple ones to find the best ones they could. Ruby grabbed the first decently straight one she saw, figuring it wouldn't make that much a a difference in her non-existent play style.

After everyone was ready, Yang spoke up. "Ok, you girls ready to be amazed? Hey Ruby, why don't you go first since you haven't played before?"

Ruby grabbed the cue ball and lined up her shot, hitting the ball a bit harder than anticipated, but making a good break. Unfortunately, she didn't knock anything in.

"Nice break sis, ok..." Yang looked over at the WB of the group. "...who first?"

Blake took up her cue and scanned to table, taking a shot and sinking a ball..then another....and another, finally hitting a bit too hard and knocking the cue ball in on her third shot along with the one she aimed at.

Yang narrowed her eyes at Blake. "I thought you said you only played once or twice?" Blake simply shrugged her shoulders with a coy grin. _'Well, Weiss has never played before, so we can make a comeback here.'_ Grabbing the cue ball from Blake's error she lined up and managed to sink four of her own before missing. She then looked up at Weiss and grinned. "You're up princess. Want any tips first?" Weiss was studying the table like a war general, and answered without looking away. "I think I've got an understanding, thank you."

Weiss leaned over the table and lined up her first shot. She didn't appear to be aiming at anything in particular and Yang was confused. As Weiss hit the cue ball, Yang spoke up. "Weiss what were you aiming at?", then watched as the ball bounced off of the side rail and hit between two other balls, sinking them in separate pockets.

Yang blinked.

Weiss then lined up and sank another...and another, finally stating "Eight ball, corner pocket." and proceeding to bank the eight ball twice before it landed in said pocket.

Weiss looked up at Yang's stunned expression. "I believe that is 'game', correct?" Ruby and Blake had the same expressions on their faces before Blake burst out laughing.

"Oh my god Weiss! That was spectacular!"

Yang glared at Weiss. "Weiss, I thought you said you only tried this game once?" Weiss shrugged one shoulder. "I have only tried once. Beginner's luck, perhaps?"

Yang looked like she didn't believe her. "Let's try this again."

The next five games went by quickly. Ruby steadily improved, smiling when Weiss pointed that out. Yang getting more and more frustrated as Blake and Weiss continued to dominate game after game. Finally, she had enough.

"OK, I think I'm getting hustled here. Blake has obviously played more than 'once or twice', but Weiss, honestly now, how often do you play?" Weiss looked at Yang and then back at the table as she lined up her shot on the eight ball for a win. "Honestly Yang, I only tried once before tonight. This is the most I've played in my entire life."

Yang grinned and shook her head. "How'd you become such a pool shark then?"

Weiss visibly stiffened at the question, but then composed herself and looked back over her shoulder at Yang. "Isn't that kind of statement kind of..." Weiss glanced at Blake "...racist?"

Blake saw how uncomfortable Weiss was suddenly and gave her a reassuring smile. "It isn't a derogatory term Weiss. Not everything animal related is racist to a Faunus.  I'm not going to get upset over a simple turn of phrase." Weiss nodded at that. "Sorry, I just don't know exactly where the line is drawn in normal society and I don't want to embarrass myself. A mistake from me tends to be seen as ten times worse than one from someone else."

Ruby laid a hand on her partner's shoulder. "It's ok Weiss. We know you are trying. Just don't let yourself get too stressed out about it." Weiss looked at each of her teammates' faces seeing them each agree with that statement and nodded, turning back to the table and sinking the eight ball. Standing up and turning around, she looked at Yang.

"To answer your original question, I am so good at this because I'm good at geometry and physics."

Yang gave her a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

Weiss leaned back against the pool table and crossed her arms across her chest. "Well, think about what kind of weapon I use. Myrtenaster's movements run on the same principals as a pool cue. It is a jabbing weapon and I have to make sure I use the proper amount of force for each of my strikes. Using too much force for a target just wastes energy, and I don't have the same vast amounts of stamina that you and Ruby possess, so I have to only use what is needed for each of my targets. That was why I was checking the weight of the billiard balls. That way I knew how much force I would need in order to get the result I wanted."

Yang nodded her head from side to side. "Ok, I suppose I get that, but you were pulling off some crazy trick shots there."

Weiss waved her hand around vaguely while talking. "Well, that is where the geometry comes in. While deciding on the angles of your shots come naturally to you and Blake from experience, I was simply calculating angles in my head."

Ruby spoke up. "Yeah, I was doing the same thing."

Weiss nodded "Well, Ruby was probably more accurately visualizing the angles. She has a knack for that." Ruby beamed a huge smile at Weiss' compliment. "I was literally running the numbers in my head."

Weiss continued her explanation. "Think about it this way. Both Ruby and my fighting styles are very three dimensional. Our attacks can come from nearly any angle. Your style is fairly straight forward and while Blake's is fluid and sweeping like Ruby's, she can instantly change direction and angle with her semblance, making correcting a mistake easier for her."

Weiss continues making vague hand gestures to illustrate. "On the other hand, Ruby has to decide on her attack approaches carefully because she moves so fast if she makes a mistake she will overshoot her target and has no quick way to correct."

Yang nodded her head. "Ok, I can see that. How does that apply to you though?"

Blake spoke up. "Ok, I think I get it. You have to determine what position to set your glyphs around an opponent in order to push off for your next attack, right?"

Weiss nodded "In addition to that, I have to make sure the next glyph in the attack pattern is at the right angle, or I could hit it wrong and hurt myself. I mostly do it on instinct now because I usually don't have time in combat to do the calculations. But, Grimm or person, the size of my targets are more or less predictable, so I don't really have to adjust any angles mid combat. I have a basic system already figured out, but when I'm looking at the table, I had plenty of time to think each shot through."

Yang thought about that for a moment. "So, you basically used mathematics to line up your shots?" Weiss nodded with a small smile. "Precisely."

Yang shook her head and grinned teasingly at Weiss. "Only you could turn a bar game into schoolwork. Nerd."

Blake smirked. "Well, we won, didn't we?"

Yang held up a finger and started to say something, but her hand dropped and she let out a small chuckle.

"Touche'..."

Ruby piped up grinning widely. "And we all had fun as a team, so I say today was a success."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I suppose today was...acceptable." The grin on her face told the others that even Weiss had a very enjoyable day, even if she didn't want to admit it out loud.

A shout caught the girls' attention. The bartender was yelling to them. "Hey, ladies, time for you lot to call it a night." Weiss checked her watch. "Nine o'clock already? I suppose we should head back." Yang waved to the bartender to show they heard and the group started walking toward the door.

"EH! Let the pretty ladies stay! We won't tell." The voice came from a table that sat three rowdy drunks.

Weiss could swear she could smell the booze from that specific table from where she was standing at the door and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "No, thank you. I'd rather not associate with a bunch of degenerates."

"Whatever girly. You think y'all too good for us?"

Weiss looked them up and down with disdain. "Yes."

The biggest of the three stood up and walked over to them, looking down at Weiss.

"Who do you think you are? Some stuck up little princess trying to act all grown up."

He reached out and swatted her ponytail, laughing.

"Who wears a ponytail off to the side like that anyway?"

Yang growled at him. "Do. Not. Touch. My. Friend."

The big drunk looked at Yang. "What? She your girlfriend or something? I bet you'd have more fun with us than that stuck up little girl."

Yang clenched her fists, but Blake grabbed her arm. "They aren't worth our time. Let's go."

Yang took a deep breath and followed Blake out.

As the girls walked out the door, they were followed by the drunks. The two others at the table following the big one. They heard the bartender yelling at the drunks to leave the girls alone. They apparently decided not to listen.

"Hey, I'm talking to you. Y'all think you big stuff or something? Little girls like you shouldn't be out trying to play soldier. Why don't you let us grown ups take care of that kind of stuff, hmmm? You can just stay home and bake cookies or something."

Ruby wasn't happy about that. "Hey! I can bake cookies and still kick your butt."

Yang looked the group over. The leader had a large bat that reminded her of Junior, but honestly, she was pretty sure even Junior could take a punch better than this guy. The other two didn't even look like they had their aura unlocked and carried no weapons. She doubted they had actually ever been in a fight before.

"I wouldn't even break a sweat on you man, just walk away before you get yourself hurt."

The leader pulled his bat out looking pissed and the two lackeys stood there looking at him, unsure what to do. One of them got the nerve to speak up.

"Man, just let them go. This ain't worth leaving my drink over."

The big one looked at him. "You're gonna let them make fun of you and just let them go? What kind of weakling are you? Now help me teach them a lesson."

The dumber of the two lackeys laughed at the one Weiss considered the smartest of the three. "Wow man. Scared you're gonna get shown up."

The guy glared at the other lackey, then groaned in annoyance and grabbed a folding chair the was outside the door.

Blake looked at the apparently smartest of the three. "It's not worth it man. You will lose."

Weiss was honestly surprised that Blake's comment was the one that finally set him off. The two lackeys actually attacked. If they had been sober...or smarter, they never would have tried.

_'You don't look like you even have any combat training and we have weapons. How stupid do you have to be?'_ Weiss thought with a groan. She hated drunks.

The girls didn't even bother drawing weapons. No sense in actually hurting these guys. They were just drunks. Yang, Weiss and Blake all charged forwards, Ruby hanging back in case she needed to help any of them. Blake made a shadow clone to boost herself forward and kicked one in the gut. He flew back and landed on the ground holding his stomach. Weiss conjured a black glyph in front of herself and used it to propel a kick just like Blake's into the other man, with similar results.

Blake looked down at the 'smart' one. "Just stay down man. Save yourself the embarrassment."

"Drunken idiot..." Weiss said to herself, looking at the other man on the ground. The leader turned to take a swing at Weiss as she was closest to him. Yang was charging forward at the bat wielder with a punch ready. Weiss was used to Yang using her gauntlets to speed herself up, not thinking that Yang would hold back to keep from hurting the guy too much, making her lag behind Blake and herself. She gasped when she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of the guy with the bat swinging at her.

"Weiss! Look out!"

Weiss turned her head just in time to get blindsided by a semblance charged Ruby, being thrown out of the way. The bat instead connected with Ruby and sent her flying across the street. A moment later, Yang's fist connected with his jaw and sent him flying into the wall, breaking the small bit of aura he had and knocking him out cold.

The three girls quickly turned to follow Ruby's yell as she flew through the air... towards the harbor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I wrote the entire scene with the pool hall just because I remembered the term 'pool shark', and wanted to use it. Welcome to my mind and how I come up with original chapter ideas.  
> I honestly had trouble with making the motivation for the fight believable. I hope I did a decent job. I personally think the plot is kind of weak there. Luckily, that part is probably the worst writing in the entire story.


	4. An Unplanned Swim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dashes separate POVs that are happening at the same time.

As Ruby went flying, her head made a sickening crack against the railing as she tumbled into the water below. Luckily, her Aura was up so she didn't crack her skull open, but she was barely concious when she hit the water, the weight of Cresent Rose dragging her down.

"RUBY!!" Yang screamed and ran for the edge, placing her hands on the railing, getting ready to jump in after her sister.

A flash of white came streaking by her and she barely realized what she was seeing as Weiss flew by her in a full sprint, diving over the railing and into the water. Yang did a double take and then looked back to Blake who stood there looking as stunned as Yang felt. Next to Blake's feet was Weiss' jacket, skirt, sword, and boots. _' What!? How? '_

\-----

Weiss frantically looked around the moment she hit the water. It was hard to breathe with her gills still constricted by her top, forcing her to take smaller breaths, but she could manage. _'Come on Ruby! Where are you?!'_

It was dark in the harbor. Her vision was better than a human, but no where near as good as Blake's. Ruby was lucky that she wasn't bleeding from her skull, even if blood would have helped Weiss home in on her a lot faster. A speck of red caught her attention from the edge of her vision, and turning her head, she spotted Ruby's form slowly sinking. She sped over immediately.

\-----

Ruby was struggling. She clung to consciousness like her life depended on it. On reflection, it really did, since it was everything she had to keep holding her breath, since the rest of her body did not seem to want to respond. From her bleary vision, she spotted a white shape coming her way. Somehow her mind managed to form a strange thought. _'Huh, I wonder if a Grimm is going to get me before I drown.'_  
The white form floated in front of her for a moment, then there was suddenly the feeling of something latching down around her mouth. _'I don't think we covered Grimm that suck your guts out in class...'_ She managed to struggle slightly, but it was in vain as something wrapped around her waist and the back of her head, holding her in place. She was vaguely aware that air was being pushed into her lungs rather than her insides being sucked out. The last thought to cross her mind before everything started going dark was the sensation of being pulled somewhere.

\-----

It was hard to tell in the dark, but Weiss was pretty sure Ruby was still awake. Her eyes were half open and she didn't look blue from lack of air, but it was difficult to tell. She took as big of a breath as she could, then latched onto Ruby's mouth and exhaled quickly, hoping she was pushing enough oxygen into her partner before her own body could start using it up. _'Note to self: Start wearing shirts that are not so tight.'_ There was some slight struggling from Ruby, so Weiss quickly wrapped one arm around her waist and clapped a hand to the back of Ruby's head to keep her still. _'Good, that means she is still conscious'_. Her own lungs burned from the lack of oxygen for herself while she was trying to give Ruby enough air. Once she was satisfied that Ruby would make it to the surface, Weiss started kicking as hard as she could. That was when her nose caught a scent in the water she hadn't smelled in a long time. Weiss whipped her head around and saw the black body and white mask of a large fish-Grimm swimming toward her and Ruby. The Grimm was longer than she was tall and had a mouthful of razor sharp teeth.

Weiss gasped, something she might have found funny that she was capable of doing underwater if she wasn't busy trying not to panic. _'No sword, no Dust, too much water resistance to hit it. I can't kill this thing here. Come on Weiss! Think! Ruby is running out of time!'_

Remembering her fight with the Boarbatusk, Weiss did the only thing she could. She blocked it and hoped she could get away. Waiting until the Grimm got close enough, Weiss quickly conjured a glyph and watched as the Grimm ran teeth first into it, dazing it when it bounced off. It recovered quickly and came at her again as she made her way to the surface. _'Almost there! Just hang on Ruby.'_    Weiss had to block it two more times before she made it to the surface.

\-----

Up on the docks, Yang and Blake stared at the water in panic. _'C'mon Ice Queen. C'mon! Where are you?'_   "Blake, can you see anything?"

Blake squinted at the dirty water. "I don't see any...wait! I think I see...oh no!"

Yang and Blake started seeing bright lights piercing through the dark under the water.

Suddenly, Weiss came crashing through the surface of the water like a whale breaching in the ocean, taking a gasping breath and yelling out as she started pulling Ruby toward shore. "Sphyraena!" Ruby coughed up some water and took a gasping breath. She was barely awake, but she was breathing.

Weiss swam backwards pulling Ruby along, trying to keep an eye out for the Grimm. As she swam, she kept making glyphs under herself and Ruby to keep from getting bit.

When Weiss got close enough, Yang grabbed Ruby and hauled her up onto shore. As Weiss turned to grab Blake's hand, she felt teeth latch down onto her ankle. Weiss yelp in alarm and pain as she poured her Aura into her leg to keep the teeth from breaking skin and bone while Blake pulled to keep her from being pulled under. Weiss started stomping the Sphyraena as hard as she could with her other foot while Blake pulled out Gambol Shroud and took aim.

"Weiss! Don't move!" As Weiss looked up and saw Blake pointing her gun at her leg, she stopped kicking and tried to get as much of herself out of the way as she could. As the pistol fired, she felt her foot come free as Blake dropped her weapon and used both hands to pull her out of the water.

Blake started looking her leg over. "Are you ok?"

Weiss nodded while trying to catch her breath. "Thanks....for the...save."

Blake gave her a smile. "No problem."

Yang looked over at Weiss with watery eyes. "Thank you for saving her Weiss."

Weiss was still gasping for breath. Her lungs were still burning from her efforts. Between breaths through her mouth, she managed to pant out while pointing toward her discarded skirt and jacket. "Not...safe yet. Ruby needs...clothes....dry....warm."

Yang nodded quickly and ran over to grab Weiss's discarded clothes and began yanking off most of Ruby's wet clothes and putting Weiss' dry skirt on her. Weiss' skirt did not exactly work with Ruby's look, but it was dry. Weiss' jacket didn't close either, so Yang put her own on her sister. Ruby definitely looked strange in her mismatched clothing, but warm and dry and funny looking was better than looking good and getting sick.

Blake looked over at Weiss in her dress top and black short shorts. "What about you? You are going to freeze too if you don't get dry." Weiss' top and shorts were soaked from the harbor and clung to her. _'How is she not freezing right now?'_

Managing to get her breath somewhat under control, Weiss looked up at Blake with a small grin. "I'm from Atlas, remember? This is nothing. Toss me my jacket and Ruby's skirt. I'll be fine until we get back to Beacon. Ruby is the priority."

As she returned with the requested items, Blake looked at Weiss with some concern. "Weiss, are your eyes ok? Something looks off about them." _'That water could not have been clean by any means.'_

_'Crap! My extra lids are still closed!'_ Weiss thought in quiet panic.

Weiss quickly looked down while she put Ruby's skirt on herself, pretending that she was finding the tag so she didn't put it on backwards, closing her eyes for a moment and opening both sets of lids before she looked back up at Blake.

"Something is wrong with my eyes? They don't feel weird or anything."

Blake looked at them again, but they looked like they normally did now. _'Maybe it was a trick of the light.'_ "Never mind, must have been my imagination. I thought maybe something in the water got into them."

Weiss shrugged and started pulling her boots back on. _'Phew! That was close.'_

Yang picked up Ruby in her arms, hoping her body heat would help keep her sister warm until they got her completely dry. Overcome with relief, she felt the need to lighten up the serious situation to distract herself from her concern for her sister.

"Wow Weiss. I didn't know you had been trying to get into Ruby's skirt. You should have at least taken her out to dinner first."

Weiss gave Yang one of her ice cold glares. Her sopping wet hair clinging to her forehead did not do much to lessen the severity. "I just dove into the harbor, one that had a Sphyraena of all things, and filled with who knows what else, in the dark, to save your sister. Is now really the time for juvenile jokes?"

Yang had the decency to look sorry. "Sorry. You know I only do that because I'm so relieved. In all seriousness though, thanks for saving her, and I'm glad you are ok too."

Weiss sighed and looked down as she finished pulling on her boots. "I know...and..thank you for your concern." She looked quite frankly ridiculous in a black and red combat skirt with her white jacket and top. "I couldn't let my partner drown or get eaten, now could I? What kind of teammate would I be if I let my leader die?"

Yang looked down as a groan came from the bundle in her arms. "Y-y-y-aaa-nnngg! Not c-c-cool. D-don't joke ab-b-bout W-wiess like t-that." Her teeth were chattering from the cold, but she was awake at least even if she was complaining about Yang's joke.

Yang grinned. "Ok, Ok. Let's hurry and get back so you both can warm up and get some dry clothes on. Maybe some more food too. How can you be so scrawny Weiss? I've seen how much you can eat. I can see your ribs."

Weiss rolled her eyes. Sometimes she really wished Yang would not use jokes as a coping mechanism. It could be worse though. "It's called cardio and eating healthy, and I'm not **that** thin." Despite her statement, Weiss was feeling a bit self conscious, so she wrapped her arms around her sides to cover up the shape of the ridges of her gills showing through her wet, clinging top, even if her jacket was mostly covering them up now. _'At least they just think those are my ribs.'_   Yang moved her eyes down to Weiss ankle. "You sure you're ok?"

Weiss lifted up her foot and rotated her ankle around.

"I'll be fine. My Aura held it off. Now, what do we do about them?" Weiss said to change the subject, indicating the men they got in the fight with.

Blake looked at them, then over at the door to the pub. The barkeep yelled to them. "We have plenty of witnesses. I'll make sure the police get the story. You girls get on home and get yourselves taken care of. I hope the next time you visit will be less eventful."

Blake waved a thank you to the barkeep and the group set off. "Sorry for the trouble."

The barkeep waved them off. "Not your fault. Have a good night ladies."

Weiss walked up next to Yang and took out her scroll, shining the light from the screen into Ruby's eyes, watching her pupils shrink from the glow.

Ruby yelped "AH, Weiss! Why did you do that?!"

"Calm down you dolt. I was making sure you didn't have a concussion. You smacked your head on the railing AND had oxygen deprivation, AND that water is freezing. You should be ok, but stay awake until we get back, just to be safe. At least you're not shivering anymore."

"Yeah. Thanks for saving me Weiss."

Weiss smiled. "Consider it thanks for saving me first."

Yang whispered to Ruby in her arms so the others wouldn't hear. "Well, at least now we know she doesn't secretly have a tail, eh Rubes?"

Ruby gave a quiet groan of annoyance.

"You know Yang. Technically, I did take her out to dinner." Weiss felt she had to get back at Yang for the comment about Ruby's skirt.

"WEEIIIISSS! Not you too?!" Ruby was aghast.

_'Why is everybody joking about me and Weiss' skirts?!'_

Yang laughed out loud while Weiss quietly giggled. Blake just smirked.

"Hey, Weiss..."

"Yes, Yang?"

"I never pegged you for the booty short type."

Weiss sighed. "Yang, I wear a combat skirt. Of course I'm going to wear shorts. I don't exactly feel like flashing my underwear at everyone whenever I do a backflip."

Yang pretended to think a bit with a smirk on her face. "That would probably distract your opponent though. Maybe you should consider it."

"Shut up Yang..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Sphyraena is basically the Grimm version of the Barracuda. I just used it's scientific name. The underwater fight scene wasn't originally in the story until last night when I realized that there are no underwater battles in RWBY and having Weiss able to breath underwater was the perfect opportunity to explore that and the problems with trying to fight underwater. I already have an idea for another underwater battle in the (far) future. By lucky coincidence, Weiss actually has the weapon best suited to underwater combat in team RWBY. (Stabbing weapon with no gun function.) She will be properly armed while underwater next time. She has learned her lesson.


	5. Painting the Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, one or two people have been asking for more/longer battles. This chapter is for you. I will go more into my thoughts on fight scenes in the ending notes. Also, got a question for my readers in the ending notes about my next project, and would like your opinions.

Professor Port's class was finally over for the day, and it was time to go track down the White Fang. The team had a plan, and it would limit the chance of danger. Well, most of them were safe. Weiss worried a lot about Blake's part, as she was going to be infiltrating a White Fang rally. Weiss was not totally comfortable having Blake go there alone, so she was willing to forgive Sun's obnoxious entrance to their plan (and dorm room) seeing as he could go with her to the rally and help. It didn't hurt when he brought Neptune with him.

"Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner."

_'Did he just wink at me? hmm...he's kinda cute....'_

"Actually Ruby, why don't you go with Yang? After all, she is your sister."

Ruby looked at her confused. "But Weiss, who will go with you then?"

_'Play it nonchalant Weiss..'_

"Well, I guess Neptune could come with me."

Neptune was ginning at her and giving her a finger gun. He definitely looked on board with that idea. Ruby was giving her a blank stare.

_'Come on Ruby....let me have this. Go for it...'_

Ruby looked at her a moment longer, then laughed. "Naahhh."

Weiss gave her an unimpressed look, then was surprised as Ruby was suddenly behind her dragging her out of the room by her coat. She weakly grasped in Neptune's direction as she was dragged away.

"But...But...."

_'No....I wanted to go with Neptune....Ruuuuubbbbbyyyyy!'_

Weiss sighed as they made their way to the CCT Tower. Ruby stared up at the tower in awe.

"Wow... I forgot how big the transmit tower looks so close!"

Maybe she can make this into a learning experience. Ruby wasn't the worst person she could have gone with and she could educate her team leader a bit.

"You should see the one in Atlas."

Ruby looked over to her. "That was the first one, right?"

Weiss grinned. "Correct. Atlas developed the cross-continental transmit system to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War."

Ruby apparently decided she didn't want to learn anything and giggled.

"Ooo look at me, my name is Weiss, I know facts, I'm rich!"

_'So much for making this a learning experience...'_

"Ruby, don't be a pest! Besides, the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much. We could've made a call from the library just as easily."

Ruby's excitement came back in full force.

"I know, but it's so cool! Oh! I'm gonna take a picture!"

Ruby pulled out her scroll, but fumbled it and watched it bounce away and run into...Penny?

A very surprised Ruby starting asking Penny where she had been for the last few weeks, but Penny was acting like she didn't recognize them and walked off. Weiss looked at Ruby confused.

"What was that about?"

Ruby got that determined look on her face that Weiss recognized whenever her team leader was going to get to the bottom of something.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out."

_'I hope she never uses that look on me. It is harder to deflect her questions these days. Wait! Where is she going?'_

"Wai-..." And Ruby was gone....

_'Ugh. Well, since I'm here I might as well get this done. I don't need anyone to help me with this anyway.'_

As she walked through the tower lobby toward the elevator, Weiss went over her presentation. It was always a presentation when speaking to company employees if you wanted to get anything done.

As the elevator made it's way to the proper floor, Weiss practiced her smile. Her 'Ice Queen' persona worked well most of the time, but she had to be polite to these people and there was nothing here to make her genuinely smile.

_'Ah, that is why Ruby was coming with me. When she isn't being annoying, she does have a knack for making me smile.'_

As she was connected, she sighed and quickly put on a fake smile when her Father's secretary came on the line.

"Thank you for calling the Atlas- oh, Miss Schnee. Good afternoon. Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well."

_'Oh God no! I don't want to talk to Father. Hmm...It would be nice to talk to Winter, but if I do, then Father is going to find out. Better to keep this short.'_

"No thank you. I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've complied a short list."

As Weiss plugged her scroll into the computer, the secretary looked surprised at the list transferred to her. "I see...If you don't mind...What may I ask is this for?"

Weiss was on top of this and smiled nonchalantly with a shrug.

"School project."

The secretary was less than thrilled with her request.

"Um..there are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am."

_'She can't outright deny me this. I'm the heiress. Hmmm.. Mean or polite? I think polite will work better with her.'_

"Well then, I'll be sure to treat them with care."

_'She looks nervous. Come on. Don't make me fight you for them...'_

"I see.. Very well. The data is being transferred to your scroll now."

Weiss gave her a friendly smile.

"Wonderful. That will be all then."

Father's secretary was definitely committed to her job.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go?"

_'I know you are just tying to cover you rear, but I REALLY don't want to talk to him. Sorry.'_

"I'm sure. Thank you."

"Well then, have a nice day."

As the screen went dark and Weiss could see her fake smile looking back at her, she let the facade drop.

_'Ugh. That was exhausting. Hope she doesn't get in trouble. She was just doing her job after all. Well, let's see if I can find any patterns to the thefts...'_

Weiss spent the next few hours going over the documents she got from headquarters. It was almost better that Ruby or Neptune hadn't come with her. Ruby would have died of boredom by now. She couldn't imagine Neptune would have been much better off. She probably would have been distracted by him too.

_'Hmm..It seems like Vale has the highest number of Dust theft. Maybe Blake is on to something here.'_

Weiss finally decided to call it a day and head back to the dorm. Hopefully the others had come back and they could go over their information. As the elevator made it back to the lobby, her scroll went off. It was Blake calling.

"Everyone! If you can hear me we need back-"

Sun's yelling cut her off. "-Heeeeellllp!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and ran off, tracking Blake's scroll toward downtown Vale.

_'I should have known better than to trust Sun to keep Blake out of trouble. He is as bad as Yang.'_

As she ran for the highway, she could hear Sun in the background of the call yelling about Torchwick being in a giant robot.

_'The new Atlasian Paladin? Those aren't even off the production line yet, are they? How did Torchwick get a hold of one of those?!'_

Ruby said she was en route and was formulating a plan. She was apparently tracking the team too.

"Weiss! Head for the 32nd street overpass! Get out ahead of them and use ice dust to get that robot off the highway before he hurts anyone else. There is an empty lot there that we can use to take him down. Blake! Keep him following you and try and get civilians clear! Yang! See if you can slow him down so Weiss can get in position!"

As Weiss ran for the bridge, she could hear Yang over her scroll connection yelling to Neptune to slow the robot down, then Yang was suddenly yelling for him to hang on. She got a little nervous when she heard the sounds of Neptune yelling and the screech of the tires on Yang's bike. As she made it to the bridge she skid to a stop and grabbed the railing, seeing Sun and Neptune get thrown over the side of the highway.

_'Damn! We could have used their help.'_

Weiss spoke into her scroll before putting it away and flipping off of the bridge down onto the highway.

"Blake! I'm in position!"

Upon landing, Weiss drew her sword and switched it over to ice dust, watching the robot barreling toward her.

_'It is a Paladin! Ruby, I hope this plan works.'_

As the Paladin got too close to evade, Weiss spun and slammed the sword into the concrete, covering half the road in thick ice. She rolled out of the way as the Paladin lost traction and rolled, crashing through the safety barrier and dropping to the empty lot below. As Weiss ran for the ledge, she saw Yang's motorcycle skid to a stop and Blake and Yang both jump over the edge, with herself following not far behind.

_'Time to take down Torchwick.'_

As Weiss landed next to her teammates, the Paladin's feet shot spikes into the concrete and started walking toward them.

_'Well, not making it slip now...'_

"Freezerburn!"

Weiss snapped back to reality and before she realized she was doing it, she was halfway through the maneuver of laying ice on the ground. Team attacks were becoming instinctive now, it seemed. As the ice covered the ground, Weiss jumped back as Yang came down with a flaming punch, instantly turning the ice into a thick fog.

Weiss watched as sensor beams were now visible in the fog.

_'Early warning detection. Now...where is the main hub...?'_

As the Paladin stalked forward, the team started running around it, trying to get into a blind spot and testing the sensors. Weiss saw Blake and Yang narrowly avoid a shot and Ruby shoot through with her semblance, smashing her scythe into the robot and throwing it off balance.

Weiss ran up as she heard Ruby cycle another round into her gun.

"Checkmate!"

Weiss leapt at the robot with Blake right behind her. The two Faunus assaulted the legs to keep it from kicking them while staying to close for it to use it's main weapons. Weiss looked up and saw exactly what she was looking for.

_'There you are.'_

Taking a leap up toward the cockpit, she managed to stab her sword right into the sensor hub, shutting down the early warning system, then conjuring a glyph mid-air and backflipping away.

_'Now we can get into your blind spots.'_

As Weiss landed, she saw Blake come out of a backflip as the Paladin took a step back to crush her. Acting quickly, Weiss summoned another glyph underneath Blake and used it to pull her back, narrowly avoiding the stomp.

As Blake landed next to her, Weiss looked up to see the Paladin firing multiple rockets at them.

_'Crap!'_

Quickly summoning another glyph under Blake and herself, they quickly started backflipping out of range. As she took a higher jump to avoid a rocket that hit closer than she liked, Weiss looked up to see shots from the main guns coming for her.

_'Crap! Crap! Hope this helps Blake!'_

Weiss crossed her arms in front of her face and brought her sword up to guard as the shot hit her, sending her flying further from her teammate. As she was heading for the ground, she rotated her sword to lightning dust and sent a time dilation glyph toward Blake. Right before hitting the ground, she saw Blake roll onto the glyph and knew it took effect. Then her shoulders and head met concrete and everything went dark.

As she woke up, Weiss could still hear the battle going on.

_'Ow...I wasn't out long. That is good.'_

As she got her feet, she heard Ruby yell out.

"Bumblebee!"

Looking up, she saw Yang flying by her with Blake's weapon following right behind. As Weiss ran toward Ruby, she saw the ribbon snap tight, ducking as Yang was swung around at the Paladin.

_'When did they knock the arms off of it?'_

As she got up to her team leader, Ruby was yelling to her.

"We need to slow it down!"

_'I don't think I have enough Dust to freeze the whole thing.'_

"And how do you propose we do that?"

Ruby looked at her for a moment, before turning to the robot with a determined look in her eyes.

"Ice Flower!"

_'Pinpoint ice bullets to the joints? Perfect!'_

As Ruby spun around and planted her blade into the ground as a stabilizer for her rifle, Weiss used the last of her ice Dust on three glyphs.

_'I hope three is enough for this...'_

As Ruby fired through the glyphs, Weiss could see the bullets glowing blue and trailing ice. She smiled as she saw the first bullet hit the shoulder of the Paladin. A large ice cluster exploded into existence where it was struck.

"Keep firing!"

Ruby was happy to oblige as she fired three more times, locking up the main turntable, keeping the cockpit from rotating, and hitting both knees, locking the robot in place...just in time for Blake to bring Yang coming around for another shot.

Yang was glowing. Eyes red and hair aflame as she launched herself at the cockpit, knocking the Paladin across the empty lot and watching it smash open, throwing Torchwick to the ground.

_'We got him now.'_

Yang was still glowing and launched a shot at Torchwick that should easily knock him out. That was until something pink and white dropped from the overpass above and when the flames from Yang's bullet dissipated, Weiss saw a parasol. As the umbrella lifted out of the way, she saw a woman that was even shorter than herself with brown and pink hair grinning at them. Torchwich smirked at them from behind the small woman. Tipping his hat with mock politeness.

"Ladies. Ice Queen..."

Weiss was yelling at the nickname on reflex now.

"Hey!"

Torchwick grinned wider and looked down at the multicolored woman.

"Always a pleasure. Neo, if you would..."

As 'Neo' bowed to them, Weiss was on guard for her to attack. Yang decided to beat them to it, charging at them with a roar and slamming her fist into the parasol...that then shattered like glass, along with Neo and Torchwick.

Yang was looking around furiously for her targets. Weiss spotted the airship flying overhead with their enemies a moment before Yang spotted it.

She stared at it as her eyes turned back to their normal lilac.

"So, I guess he got a new henchman."

_'Ooo. I've been wanting to try this for a bit.'_

A small smile graced Weiss' lips as she looked up at the sky, then turned to Yang.

"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans...fall apart?"

Weiss snickered at her own joke. She was proud of it. Yang always appreciated humor.

Unfortunately, Yang gave her a flat stare.

"No. Just, no."

_'Are you serious?!'_

Putting her fists on her hips, she glared at Yang.

"What? But you do it!"

Yang mirrored her pose.

"There's a time and a place for jokes."

_'What was wrong with my timing?'_

"Was this not it?"

Yang started walking away.

"No, it just wasn't very good."

_'Dammit Yang!'_

Weiss huffed and stuck her nose in the air, following Yang and Blake.

"Well, at least I'm trying."

_'You try and do something you think your friends will like.....'_

Ruby's voice piped up from behind her.

"Wait. Where are Sun and Neptune?"

Weiss stopped for a moment, waiting for Ruby to catch up.

_'That's a good question. I hope they are alright.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writing this chapter, I realized that I really don't enjoy just rehashing canon fights. There isn't really a lot I can add to them, even with the thoughts of the fighters as the battle goes on. So, I've decided on a compromise. For fights where Weiss plays a significant role, and/or where her being a Faunus has an impact on the fight or story, those will get more detail. Original fights that are not in the show will also be longer, as I can have some fun writing those. If I'm just stating "hey, this canon fight happened here", then those will not get as much detail, as you can watch the show to get a better fight than what I can write. I'm more interested in what is happening in the background while these things are going on and stuff that happens 'in between' episodes.  
> The only way I can make these fights more detailed is if I did a play by play such as "Weiss struck 3 times across her opponent's shoulder until he managed to dodge her 4th and jump back, hitting her with 4 slashes and 2 punches". There is a story I am reading that does exactly that, and while it does paint a very detailed picture of what is going on, and the story itself is very good, my eyes glaze over while reading some of the fight scenes and I honestly would lose interest in my own story if I tried to write fight scenes that detailed.  
> I hope this compromise will keep both me and my readers happy.
> 
> Also, on a COMPLETELY different note, I am getting closer to getting caught up with Volume 5 in my writing, and while I will still be editing/adding to parts of this story, I will eventually outpace the canon series. I have a few other story ideas I'm interested in exploring, but I will only have time for one of them, so I'm letting my readers decide which one they would rather see.
> 
> 1\. Team RWBY are all sisters (Blake and Weiss have memory loss from an accident and get adopted by Tiayang and Summer Rose when they are  
> young kids.) There is another fic that has a similar idea based on the summary I read, but I'm purposefully not reading it so that I don't accidentally steal ideas from the other author. Weiss and Blake will have slightly different personalities due to growing up with Yang and Ruby, and their weapons and outfits will be different due to the same reason. As such, there will be more battles as the change in equipment means that a lot of things will be original and I can have fun with that. It will still mostly follow the canon story.  
> Since this matters to some people: There will be no shipping within team RWBY (they all consider themselves sisters), but I will explore some rare pairs and some not rare pairs. The ships are already decided. I'm going to have some fun with those.  
> \---------------------------  
> 2\. Skyrim/RWBY crossover. RWBY characters in Skyrim. Mostly Skyrim lore friendly There will be Grimm. Weapons will be mostly lore friendly (No guns or crazy transforming weapons). Semblances are replaced with magic or dragons shouts. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are all Dovakin (Yang is the 'main' one though). As such, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake will get shouts that make sense for them. Yang will get ones that make sense for her along with any others since she is the 'Main character'. Some mods will be incorporated to make this all work and add some extra flavor to the story. (Frostfall, JaySuS Swords, Scythes, ect.) Character Races will be what I think makes the most sense for the particular character and their background (obviously, Blake is going to be Kajhiit. you know it, I know it.). Ships are already determined. Obviously, all fights are original, so I will be getting more detailed in how they happen.  
> Yang will mostly follow the main quest (being the 'main character'), but all the characters will weave their way in and out of each others quest lines. (This will be a huge, but fun project people.)  
> \-------  
> So, I'm going to let that 'poll' sit for a few weeks so plenty of people can get their opinion in. I only have basic outlines for each story and the character details, so once it is decided which one I'm going to do, I will begin work on it once I'm all caught up on writing this one, so it will be awhile before I start writing the new one.
> 
> Post your opinions in comments (guest comments are welcome too).


	6. A Splash of Color

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I appreciate comments about what you think of the story so far and the writing itself. I try to make things as easy to read as possible, so if something is hard to follow, let me know so I can fix it. Also, still taking people's opinions on my next project. (description is in the ending notes of the previous chapter.)

It was a week after the incident with Torchwick and the Paladin when it happened. _'Sun and Neptune never did tell us what happened to them during that fight. I need to ask Neptune about that sometime.'_ Sun and Neptune had started sitting with team RWBY and JNPR at breakfast, and Weiss had a plan. The dance was coming up in a couple weeks and Neptune had been getting flirty with her lately. She wanted to really catch his attention. Weiss had just gotten a new outfit and decided to wow him that morning. The white blouse, light blue pencil skirt and tight sleeved, light blue jacket with her white wedges was sure to catch his eye. 

As she walked into the cafeteria, she noticed she caught more than just Neptune's eyes. Jaune was looking at her open mouthed. _'That is to be expected'_. Ren reached over shut his mouth with a click as Jaune's teeth came together. She then noticed that Ruby and Yang were also looking. Neptune was giving her that sly grin he always wore, and it made her smile when she sat down next to him. "Good morning Neptune."

Neptune replied with a wink. "Morning Snow Angel"

Weiss sat there just staring at him for a bit with a goofy grin on her face. She was practically swooning. _'He'd look good with me. I bet even Father would have a hard time saying he wasn't good enough.'_

Yang broke the spell when she spoke up. "Damn, Ice Queen. Lookin' good. Trying to make all the other girls jealous?"

Weiss groaned at the interruption and looked back at her. "What are you talking about?"

Yang just ran her eyes over the room. Following her gaze, Weiss noticed that there were quite a few male students...and even a few female ones...admiring her. They were mostly exchange students she didn't recognize, but a few Beacon students she wasn't real familiar with were looking too. Weiss suddenly felt embarrassed and blushed, looking back toward her food.

"Don't dress to impress if you can't take the attention, princess. Don't you perform in front of huge concert halls or something?" Yang joked goodnaturedly, giving her a grin. 

"Oh, shush you. I'm not used to people staring at me...like that..."

Yang gave her a teasing smirk. "You mean like they want to pin you to a wall and make out with you?"

Neptune choked on his food for a moment as Pyrrha stared slack jawed at Yang. Ren reached over and Pyrrha's teeth made the same click that Jaune's had as Ren closed her mouth.

"YANG!" Weiss admonished her grinning teammate as she scowled, ready to lecture Yang for the next 20 minutes on proper social etiquette.

"You look really nice Weiss. "

Weiss blinked, caught off guard by the sudden compliment, then started to turn toward Jaune to give him a flat response, before realizing that he wasn't the one who said it, and slowly brought her gaze around to her team leader. _'That was Ruby's voice.'_ Ruby was looking at her with a small smile.

Weiss sat up and gave Ruby a polite smile back, attempting to calm herself. "Thank you. I thought I would try something new today."

"Trying to impress someone there, Weiss?" Yang said with a smug grin. 

_'Shut up Yang! You know that is exactly what I'm doing!'_    Weiss screamed internally while giving Yang a look that said much the same thing.

After a moment of staring at each other, Yang just grinned and went back to her food. Blake rolled her eyes at their antics from behind her book but politely refrained from commenting. Based on the bad mood Blake had been in since the fight with Torchwick, this was a blessing. Weiss relaxed as it seemed like Yang would actually let her off with minimal teasing. As Jaune and Pyrrah finished up and left with polite goodbyes, it might even seem like she would get some time to talk more with Neptune without interruption. Of course, her luck wasn't good enough to save her completely. She never even got a chance to start talking to him as they were both suddenly distracted by the new drama at the table.

Sun was messing around with Nora while flirting with Blake. Blake was not having any of it. She was still being 'all...Blakey' as Sun had once said. She was still spending all of her time searching for anything she could find on the White Fang. Her grades and health were both seeing the effects of her lack of sleep and food. It took effort from the whole team to get her to actually come to breakfast, even if she hadn't touched her food. Yang claimed she was going to find a way to get Blake to the dance and get her to relax. Right now though? Right now she was just going to try and get a reaction out of her other than brooding. Yang was pretty sure Blake liked Sun back, even if she didn't admit it, so a little jealousy might get a reaction.

Leaning forward so she could look around Blake, Yang flashed Sun a smile. "You know Sun, if Blake isn't interested, you could always go to the dance with me." Sun blinked and gave Yang a confused look. Yang just motioned to Blake with her eyes when Sun looked at her. Sun had a pretty good feeling that he knew what Yang was doing and played along. Tapping his chin with his finger, he looked to be considering the offer. "Hmmm. That is not a bad idea. I'd much rather go with Blake though." Yang looked thoughtful too. "Yeah, me too, but I don't mind going with another blonde with great abs."

Nora perked up. "Oh! The three of you can go together!"

Yang and Sun both blinked at Nora. That was **not** what they were trying to do right now. Yang rolled her eyes at Nora. (With the exception of Ruby, eye rolls seemed to be a thing the team did now. They all blamed Weiss for the new habit.) After a moment, Yang tried to get her plan back on track, but it was too late.

Blake looked at Sun and Yang for a moment and then scowled. "I've got better things to do than a stupid dance." As she tried to stand up, Blake suddenly felt strong hands on both of her shoulders as the two blondes slammed her butt back down onto the bench. Blake's scowl disappeared for a moment as surprise was written all over her face. The rest of the table was also surprised when both Sun and Yang both gave Blake stern looks. They had never seen Sun serious about anything, and Yang was only stern like that when she was in 'mom mode'.

"Eat." They said in unison. 

Blake glared at both of them but started eating when neither of them backed off. Yang sighed and gave Sun a sympathetic look. Sun shrugged his shoulders and gave her a look of understanding. At least Blake was eating. That was an improvement. As Yang went back to eating her food, Sun went back to messing with Nora.

Unfortunately for Sun, no one had told him to NEVER mess with Nora's pancakes. Using his tail to hold a fork, he tried to steal one off her plate. This resulted in Nora slamming her hand down on his tail to stop him, shaking the entire table and causing Sun to yelp in pain and flail his arms. Ruby tried to grab her milk to keep it from falling over, but Sun's flailing smacked into her arm just as she got her hand around the glass. Weiss and Ruby both watched as Ruby's arm was hit and the glass flew across the table...right onto Weiss' new shirt.

To Weiss' credit, she didn't scream, although her red face definitely screamed murder and embarrassment. Ruby started apologizing immediately until Weiss held up a hand to stop her. Standing up, Weiss kept her composure as she took a deep breath and looked down at a nervous Ruby. "It wasn't your fault. Now, if you will all excuse me..." Ruby let out a relieved breath as Weiss walked to the door with all the confidence and prim posture she always did, right up until she got out the door where she could see no one else around...

Blake's bow twitched for a moment and Nora looked up from her pancakes. "Did you guys hear that? Sounded like a Beowulf." Yang and Ren eyed the door for a moment, then went back to their food, deciding that trying to explain that to Nora wasn't worth the time.

Ruby was watching the door Weiss left from and saw Weiss stalk by the window silently fuming. _'Poor Weiss. She is really mad. That was loud, even for her.'_    Weiss wasn't mad at her directly, but now was probably not the time to try and help her partner. Weiss just needed some time to cool off and was likely just going off to go change her shirt. As Ruby looked back toward the table, she noticed Neptune had been watching Weiss as well. He was frowning and started to stand up. Ruby grabbed his arm and he looked at her. She shook her head.

"Just give her a little bit to cool off. She just needs some space and time."

Neptune nodded as he sat back down with a sigh. 

"If you're sure."

Ruby smiled at him.

"I'm her partner. Trust me. I know how she works. She'll be fine in a bit."

Neptune nodded again. "Thanks Ruby."

Ruby looked down at the table. "She's my best friend, and she likes you. Gotta help her out."

Neptune smiled. "You're pretty cool, ya know that?"

Ruby looked up and giggled. "You can thank me by letting me look at your weapon. Plasma based, right?  What do you use to keep the barrel cool?"

Neptune grinned. "Condenser coil powered by ice Dust."

As Ruby and Neptune started discussing how his weapon operated, with Ruby listing off possible upgrades, they both had the same thought.

_'I hope Weiss is ok.'_

\-----

Weiss was pissed. _'Stupid Nora! Stupid, stupid Sun! This shirt better not be ruined!'_    Weiss was looking down at the giant chocolate milk stain on her shirt as she stalked into a bathroom. _'Why did that dolt have to get chocolate!? No, don't blame her. It's not Ruby's fault.'_   Untucking her shirt, she pulled it up enough to get the stain under the water in the sink. She figured once she got most of it out, she could go to the dorm and get a clean shirt and see if this one could be saved.

_'I didn't even get to talk to Neptune.'_

She was so distracted, she didn't hear the door open, but she certainly heard when a very familiar male voice called out in surprise. "Weiss!?"

Weiss' head snapped around toward the door. "Jaune!?"


	7. Crisis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune walks in on Weiss cleaning her shirt. Now Weiss has to think fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. Also went and corrected a couple typos I notice in previous chapters. (Yes, I constantly reread my own story to make sure I keep everything consistent.)

"Jaune!?"

To his credit, Jaune immediately clapped his hand over his eyes instead of ogling her, even if his face was redder than Ruby's cloak, _'What the hell is he doing in here?'_ Before Weiss could yell at him, he started talking.

"Um, Weiss? Two questions. First, what are you doing in the men's room?"

Any angry reprimanding Weiss had planned died before leaving her mouth as she slowly looked around and realized that, to her horror, she had indeed, walked into the men's room.

_'Public restrooms. Why did I go into a public restroom without looking first?  Why didn't I just do this in the dorm?'_

Weiss sighed to herself until the next sentence made her blood run cold.

"Secondly..um..are those...gills?"

Weiss froze and then slowly looked down and realized that pulling her shirt up to rinse it had exposed her gills. She quickly pulled her shirt back down and walked over to Jaune. "Jaune, I need you to listen VERY carefully. You can uncover your eyes, I'm decent, but I need you to look out in the hall and make sure it is clear." Jaune uncovered his eyes and turned toward the door, but he was confused.

"Ok, but what about...?"

Weiss interrupted him. "NO QUESTIONS!" Taking a breath to calm herself, she started again. "Not yet. Sorry...just make sure it is clear first, please."

Jaune opened the door and looked up and down the hall. "Ok, it is clear."

Weiss grabbed his hand and started to drag him down the hall and into an empty classroom, shutting and locking the door behind them.

"Please, have a seat."

She would have to be VERY clear how serious this was. Jaune had a tendency to speak without thinking, much like Nora and Ruby. She took a deep breath as Jaune leaned against the teacher's desk.

"Ok, first. Sun spilled Ruby's drink on my shirt at breakfast, and I was upset and walked into the wrong bathroom. Secondly...yes. Those are gills."

Jaune was about to ask something, but Weiss walked up to him and grabbed both his hands in her own. "Jaune, I need you to promise not to tell **anyone** what you saw. I cannot stress enough how important it is that no one finds out about this."

Jaune looked down into Weiss' eyes. She was on the verge of crying. She looked scared. This wasn't the Weiss Schnee he normally dealt with. He was expecting a scowl or angry yelling and demands, not what was basically begging. It was so... **alien**...to him. This was a frightened teenage girl. Not to mention Weiss was his friend...kinda...sort of...ok not really at all, but she was trusting him with something important. Even if he didn't have a crush on her, he had his honor, and an Arc always keeps their word.

"Ok, I won't tell anyone."

The look of relief on her face warmed his heart. He had some questions, but he was smart enough to keep his voice down. "But, Weiss. How do you have gills? You're family is human, and why doesn't your team know? Blake is a Faunus pretending to be human. Wouldn't she understand?"

Weiss let go of his hands and wrapped her arms around her body, hugging herself, and started pacing in front of him, shaking her head.

"There isn't time to explain everything. No offense, but the less you know the better."

Jaune frowned at that, but he seemed to at least understand.

"Yes, my family is human, but I'm a Faunus. Also, no one at Beacon knows the truth, not even Ozpin. I've kept this a secret my whole life. You are one of now four people that know, and I can't let that number get any higher. If word got out about this, my future is pretty much over. I need to know I can count on you to **never** let this slip. My future literally depends on this."

Jaune surprised her when didn't even try and make a show of it like he normally would. Just a simple "I promise." and she could tell he took this seriously. What she did next surprised him right back. Weiss came up and hugged him. Weiss didn't hug anyone. She was saying "thank you" over and over again. It was almost like a dream come true. He wanted to wrap her up in a big hug like Ruby would do, but he knew better.

_'That would NOT go over well. Just enjoy what you are being offered man.'_

He didn't want to press his luck, so he gave her a couple of quick pats on the back before letting go. "Of course. Your secret is safe with me."

Weiss pulled away and wiped her eyes and gave him a small smile. "Thank you. That means a lot. I should probably get going before my team starts to worry about me."

Jaune smiled. "Yeah, me too..." His face dropped. "Oh crap! Pyrrha is still waiting for me in the library!" He gave Weiss a quick wave as he ran out the door. Weiss took a deep breath to compose herself, fixed her shirt to be as presentable as possible with a giant chocolate stain on it, and made her way to the dorm to get changed. _'I hope he is as reliable as he is trying to be. My future might actually depend on that klutz.'_

Weiss sighed as she made her way down the hall.

_'I don't have a choice but to trust him now though. He's an idiot, but he has a good heart.  Ruby and Pyrrha trust him. I'll just have to trust that they aren't wrong about him.'_

As Weiss walked into the dorm, she went over to her part of the closet and picked out a different shirt. It was one of her normal ones, but it at least worked with her new clothes. She frowned as she looked at the stained shirt. _'This thing is ruined. I'm gonna have to buy a new one. What a waste of money.'_   Weiss sighed and tossed the shirt in the trash. If she hurried, she could make it back in time to actually have time to eat something.

When Weiss got back to the cafeteria, she saw that almost everyone was gone. Team RWBY, JNPR, and Sun and Neptune had all left too. Weiss grabbed some food and sat down, taking out her scroll while she ate so hopefully no one would bother her. That was a feeble hope. She had barely started reading news articles on her scroll when someone dropped onto the bench beside her.

"Hey, Schnee, got a question for ya."

Weiss looked over to see Coco Adel of Team CFVY looking her up and down from over the top of her sunglasses.

_'Why does she wears those things indoors?'_

"Hey, nice threads Schnee. Like the look."

Weiss was taken aback. She and her friends talked to Velvet occasionally since she was in their History class, but none of the other members of team CFVY had ever interacted with them before now. She decided to at least be polite.

"Thank you. Um, you had a question for me?"

Coco pulled her eyes away from Weiss' outfit and looked her in the eye.

_'Thank goodness she is talking about my clothes. If she was looking at **me**...like that...I'd be worried. I mean, I know I look nice today, but I've gotten WAY more attention than I planned on.'_

"Yeah, Ozpin has me and Velv setting up that dance coming up in a few weeks. Our team is slated to go on a mission the week before that. We should be back in plenty of time, but if we get held up and can't make it, I was wondering if you and Xaio Long would be interested in taking over for us? Velv says you guys would be perfect for the job."

Weiss thought that over. _'Setting up an event for the entire school? Limited budget, needs to be fancy. Will take a lot of work and organization, especially if Yang is helping out. She'll probably want a bunch of strobe lights or something. I'm sure there is a bunch of immature stuff I'll have to talk her out of...'_

"Schnee?"

Weiss shook her head and smiled at Coco. "Sorry. Yes, I'd be delighted to take over if needed. I'm sure Yang would be on board too."

Coco grinned. "Yeah, I figured from the way you got all smiley and staring off into space. I was pretty sure I could see the entire dance already planned out from the look in your eyes."

Weiss looked down at the table sheepishly. "Perhaps..."

Coco laughed. "Oh, you are just adorable! Reminds me of that Rose girl leading your team."

Weiss rolled her eyes and stuck her nose in the air. "I am not 'adorable'. I am a sophisticated young woman."

Coco stood up and put a hand on her shoulder with a smirk. "You are totally adorable. I'll let Ozpin know that you are up for it if we get held up. Later Schnee."

With that, Coco walked away as Weiss went back to her meal.

_'Now I just have to let Yang know and find a way to get her to agree to my plans. Hmmmm.....Should I go with white, or pearl for the tablecloth...?'_

When Weiss got back to the dorm, she was surprised to see the shirt she had thrown away laying on her bed...without any sign of the stain. There was a note sitting on it.

_Hey Weiss,_

_Seemed like a waste to throw away this nice shirt since you like it so much, and it was kind of my fault it got a stain. Dad taught me and Yang how to get stains out since we couldn't really spend a lot on new clothes. If you want, I'll show ya how sometime._

_-Ruby_

Weiss held the shirt up and looked it over. It was indeed stain free. Weiss smiled as she hung it back up in the closet.

_'I'm going to have to thank her when she gets back. Probably couldn't hurt to learn how she managed to get this so clean. I'll have to ask her about that later. Now, time for dance planning.'_

Weiss smiled as she went to get her notebook. She was going to have fun with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crisis averted
> 
> Hey, plot twist. Our resident bumbling huntsman in training actually wasn't at fault this time. (I chuckled at your comments last week and am looking forward to your reactions this week.)
> 
> If there is any confusion to Weiss' actions, keep in mind that she is not actually as mean and cold as she projects to most people (such as Jaune). She is terrified of someone finding out she is a Faunus, (Her reasons will be explained in later chapters, although many could probably guess) so she is not going to just jump down their throat because that is more likely to get them to rat on her out of spite. She is also appealing to Jaune's good nature. Despite her thinking he is not really qualified to be a huntsman, she knows he has a good heart. Her biggest worry is him slipping up, not purposefully telling anyone.
> 
> Also, You know Tai is domestic dad and taught his kids how to keep their clothes clean. They lived in the woods and trained all the time, after all.
> 
> Also, still taking 'votes' on my next project that you guys want.  
> 1\. RWBY are sisters  
> 2\. RWBY/Skyrim Crossover/Fusion


	8. An Unexpected Proposal

The dance was finally here. Well, it was tomorrow, but that was beside the point. Neptune had been flirting with her for weeks, but he hadn't asked her yet, so she was going to take the initiative.

_'It isn't traditional, but it's fine for the girl to ask the guy, right?'_

Jaune had been bugging her, but it hadn't been different from any other time he asked her out, so this wasn't anything new. It was just cheesy. _'A guitar, really?'_ She was honestly surprised Pyrrha hadn't gotten the courage to ask him out. There was no way he would have said no to Pyrrha, crush on Weiss or not.

_'Maybe she just finally gave up? Poor girl. He's a klutz, but she liked him and honestly, there are worse guys in the school than Jaune. It could have been Cardin.'_

Weiss started heading for the exchange student dorms. She had messaged Neptune earlier to have him meet her outside. As she walked around the corner, she saw him. "Neptune!" she yelled as she jogged up to him. He turned around and gave her a smile.

"Oh, hey! What's up?"

Weiss suddenly felt self conscious. She had never done this before, but really, how hard could it be to ask someone out? If Jaune could do it, then so could she. "I wanted to ask you something." She started fidgeting, rubbing one foot on the back of the other.

"I know this is a little unorthodox, but I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the dance tomorrow?" _'There, that wasn't so hard.'_

_'Sure thing Snow Angel. I'd love to. I just didn't have the courage to ask such a pretty girl such as yourself.'_   Weiss fantasized to herself. It would be like a romantic scene from a movie.

Unfortunately, that little fantasy crashed and burned when Neptune suddenly looked uncomfortable and started rubbing the back of his head.

"Um, I'm flattered, but I was...uh... kinda planning on going by myself."

Weiss blinked. She didn't know what to say. _'He has been flirting with me for weeks...hasn't he? Did I really misread the signs that badly? No, I couldn't have...could I?'_

"Y-you're sure?"

Neptune looked off to the side.

"Um...Y-yeah. sorry..."

Weiss looked down at her feet. "Oh, I...I see. W-well, I'll see you later then, I guess."

"I'm sorry. I was just planning on going solo." He looked sincere at least.

Weiss held back her disappointment as best she could, nodding before turning and walking away so she would be out of sight before she started crying. Crying in front of him would just look like she was trying to guilt him, and she didn't want to be 'that girl'.

_'I was so sure he liked me. How did I misread him that badly?'_

As she got to the corner, she saw Neptune walk back inside the dorms and she slid down the wall sitting on the ground, leaning against the building as tears came to her eyes.

_'Wow...this must be what Jaune feels like when I turn him down...  Well, maybe not.  I never gave him the impression I liked him.  Still really hurts though...'_

Weiss took a deep breath through her nose to try and calm herself, and a familiar scent hit her sensitive nostrils, making her blink.

_'Roses?'_

She looked down and saw a white rose laying on the ground. She picked it up and inhaled, smiling at the pleasant smell, then furrowed her brow. There was another scent on the flower. She looked down and gave the stem a sniff, catching another scent she recognized. _'Jaune?'_

Weiss looked around and didn't see him anywhere, then looked back to the corner where she was talking to Neptune, and a frown formed on her face. _'Oh, Jaune. You poor hopeless klutz....You saw me asking Neptune, didn't you?'_    Weiss rolled the stem in between her fingers a bit while thinking, watching the flower twirl.

_'He's kept my secret and hasn't tried to use the information to get a date. He hasn't tried to get anything out of me with it. I misread the signs with Neptune this badly, did I misread Jaune too? Maybe he isn't in it for the money or fame... He's such a klutz though. What does Ruby see in him that makes her think he is a good leader? For that matter, what did Pyrrha see in him that made her like him? What do they see in him that I don't? '_

Weiss looked up at the sky, then back down at the rose, furrowing her brows, eventually coming to a decision. _'Screw it. Pyrrha apparently gave up on him. He either doesn't like her back, or is just that oblivious, but maybe he deserves a chance. Maybe I'll find out what she saw in him. There has to be **something** there, right?'_

Standing back up with renewed determination, she wiped her eyes and pulled out her scroll, texting Jaune as she started walking back toward the main courtyard.

\-----

Jaune was in the hallway outside his room when his scroll buzzed in his pocket. He was surprised to see a message from Weiss.

**[Weiss] Hey Jaune. Are you still awake?**

Jaune hesitated for a bit, looking at his scroll, not sure he had it in him right now to talk to Weiss after seeing her talking to Neptune. _'I wonder if she just wants to tell me to leave her alone now that she has a date. I should probably apologize. Maybe I can salvage a friendship out of this.'_ Sighing, he decided he might as well get this over with.

**[Jaune] Yeah, what's up?**

**[Weiss] Could you meet me by the fountain out front of the school?**

Now Jaune was confused, but curious too.

**[Jaune] Sure, be there in a few minutes.**

**[Weiss] Great. See you in a bit.**

_'Weird. Why would she want to talk to me in person?'_

When Jaune got to the fountain he saw Weiss standing there looking up at the statues. If he was more of a romantic, he might have said this was like the scene out of some romance film.

_'Huh. Yeah. Like that would ever happen. Well, time to find out what this is about.'_

"H-hey Weiss. You wanted to see me?"

Weiss looked over her shoulder at him with a sad smile. "Hey Jaune. Join me?"

Jaune walked up next to Weiss and tried to see what she was looking at. All he saw was the statues.

_'She is acting really weird. What is she looking at?'_

"Jaune?"

Jaune looked over at Weiss and saw her with a guilty look on her face. That was not what he was expecting. He froze when he looked down at her hands and saw her rolling the white rose he had dropped on the ground between her fingers.

"Um, Weiss. Look, I know you asked Neptune to the dance, and I'm happy for you. I realize I've been kinda hounding you, and that was not cool. I promise to not bother you anymore."

_'Maybe she won't yell at me as bad now? Ah, who am I kidding. I'm gonna get the lecture of my life.'_

Weiss shook her head. "It's not that. Neptune turned me down. It...got me thinking. If I misread the signs from him that badly, then maybe I misread other people as well."

Jaune's eyebrows rose up high on his head. _'There is no way this is happening.'_

"Jaune, your pickup lines are over the top and quite frankly annoying, and yes, you have been hounding me, and you **really** can't take a hint..." Weiss sighed. "...but I've also been kind of a bitch to you to be honest. I really could have been more...tactful...in how I responded to you."

Jaune rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, I did kinda deserve it after the first time I didn't leave you alone..."

Weiss sighed and barely resisted rolling her eyes. _'Took him long enough to finally get it. No matter, we both handled things badly. Maybe since he realizes it, this won't be so bad.'_

"The point is, despite all of that, I finally realized that you didn't want to date me for the fame or my money. Also, I know I can trust you. You haven't tried to blackmail me with my secret or anything of the like, and I really haven't given you enough credit for that."

Weiss was still fidgeting with the rose. "I still don't have any sort of romantic interest in you or anything like that, but..." She turned and looked up at him. "...would you like to go to the dance with me tomorrow, **as friends** , and just....we'll see what happens?"

Before Jaune could respond, Weiss quickly added. "This isn't a pity date or just because I don't have a date or anything like that. I know it might look like that, but I promise it isn't."

Weiss was actually starting to ramble like her partner and stopped herself, taking a deep breath. "I truly want to give you an honest chance here."

Jaune had to hold back the joy he was feeling. _'Remember what Pyrrha said. No fancy act. No crazy pick up lines. Just be yourself. This is just as friends, but she is giving you a shot.'_

Jaune stood up tall and look down at his crush with a smile. "Weiss, I would be happy to accompany you to the dance tomorrow."

Weiss gave him a small smile. "Meet me here at 7:00?"

"I'll be here."

Weiss turned and started walking back towards the dorms, looking over her shoulder with a grin. "Don't be late. I like to be punctual. You can be as bad as Ruby when it comes to being on time."

Jaune laughed. "I'll make sure."

"Oh, and Jaune? Thanks for the flower. Roses are my favorite." With that, Weiss made her way back to her room.

Jaune stood outside for awhile longer, looking up at the statues until Weiss was out of sight. Looking around to make sure no one was there, he threw his hands up in the air.

"WOO!"

After composing himself he went back to his room, the biggest grin on his face.

\-----

The next morning, Weiss was up bright and early to put the finishing touches on the ballroom for the dance that night. It took her a bit to get Yang out of bed, but she just threatened to get rid of the fog machines if Yang didn't come help finish setting up. They both grabbed a quick breakfast and ate in the ballroom while going over any last minute changes or adjustments. Once Yang convinced Weiss that it was going to be as perfect as it could get, it was almost lunch time.

Weiss took Ruby into Vale to pick up their dresses from the fitters. After making sure everything was in order, they found themselves at a small diner that Ruby liked. There they sat eating lunch, talking about the dance.

Ruby looked over at Weiss. "Ready for your date with Neptune?"

Weiss looked back at her partner. "I'm not going with Neptune."

Ruby had a confused look on her face. She was sure Weiss was going to ask Neptune to the dance. "You're going by yourself?" _'I wonder if I should just ask her to go with me as friends so she doesn't have to go alone.'_

"No, I'm going with Jaune."

Ruby choked on her drink. "You're going with Jaune? You turned him down more times than I can count."

Weiss shrugged her shoulders. "Changed my mind. Decided to give him a chance."

Ruby gave her a look that said 'There is more to it than that.' "Weiss..."

Weiss sighed and picked up her drink. "Also, Neptune turned me down."

Ruby stared for a moment. "Wow. Why would anyone turn you down? You're awesome."

Weiss just smiled and shook her head.

After taking a drink, she looked at Ruby. "What about you? Get yourself a date? I know you are younger than everyone else, but..."

Ruby shook her head. "There was someone I thought about asking, but I didn't think they would be interested. Besides, they are already going with someone else."

This perked Weiss' interest. "Oh? Anyone I know?"

Ruby swirled her drink in her cup. "Don't really want to talk about it. I don't even know if I really like them like that or not. It doesn't matter anyway."

Weiss flagged the waiter down for the check. "Well, you are a great person, and anyone you like more than you like their weapon is special and a lucky person indeed."

Ruby laughed. "Not sure if I just got complimented or insulted there, but thanks Weiss. That means a lot."

Weiss smiled back. "I know I've been acting like I don't take you seriously, but that was always to just get you to keep working hard. You really are a great person, and a good leader. You deserve to know that. Now let's get going. We need to work on your hair and makeup for tonight. Make those boys regret not asking you out."

Ruby rolled her eyes. (And it was official. Eye rolls were a team RWBY thing now.) "Yeah, like anyone could get past Yang long enough to even ask me."

Weiss laughed "Yeah. She does baby you a bit, doesn't she?"

Ruby threw her head back and groaned. "Ugh...Don't remind me. Let's go."


	9. Dance, Dance, Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the dance is finally here.

Weiss was all set for the evening. Hair? perfect. Makeup? perfect. She saved the rose Jaune got her and put it in her hair. Even her dress was perfect. It was white with some very dense black mesh down the sides that would stretch if needed. _'Not that I plan on having to go for an emergency swim again, but at least I can use my gills if I have to, and no one will be able to see them through the mesh. I might need to start incorporating this into my combat outfit.'_

Blake left earlier to meet Sun. Apparently Yang had managed to convince her to go. Yang herself volunteered as host to greet the guests since she didn't have a date and had been gone for awhile.

_'How does Yang of all people not have a date? Are people that scared of her that they never asked?'_

Weiss helped Ruby with her makeup and hair, making her look as stunning as her short hair would allow. Ruby still couldn't walk in high heels to save her life, an oversight on Weiss' part, so she offered to accompany her to the hall so she didn't hurt herself.

\-----

Jaune was on time for his meeting with Weiss. He actually made sure he was fifteen minutes early, just in case. When he heard two sets of heels walking toward him, he turned to see Weiss arm in arm with Ruby.

As they got up to him, Weiss turned to her partner. "This is where we must part ways. You going to be ok from here?"

Ruby gave her partner a thumbs up. "I think I got it from here. Thanks Weiss." As she shakily walked away on her high heels, she looked back over her shoulder at Weiss and Jaune. "Have fun you two!"

Weiss and Jaune waved at her as she walked away. Weiss laughed to herself as she turned to Jaune. "Should have gotten her some flats. Girl can't walk in heels if her life depended on it."

Jaune chuckled "She'll be ok, I'm sure. You look beautiful."

Weiss smiled. "Thank you. You clean up pretty well yourself."

Jaune laughed and held out his arm. "Thanks. Shall we?"

Weiss linked arms with him as they walked up to the ballroom. "Of course."

As they entered the ballroom they saw Yang at the podium. She gave them a wide grin.

"Wow, well look at you two. Finally got that date, eh ladykiller?"

Jaune chuckled like he was embarrassed. "We're just here as friends Yang."

Yang smirked at him. "Suuuuurrrreeee..."

Weiss playfully swatted Yang on the arm as they walked up to her. "Yang, be nice. He's doing a good job so far. Don't tease him."

Yang laughed "Ok, ok. Have fun you two."

The evening went very well for Weiss. Jaune was a perfect gentleman. He was really putting on his best for tonight. No trying to show off. No making a big deal about being there with her. Surprisingly, also no big awkward moments...and wow, the boy could dance. Weiss learned that Jaune had seven sisters. Apparently when you are the only boy in a family with that many women, you learn a few things. A full skillset of various dances being one of those things. _'If only he was as good in combat as he is on the dance floor.'_

Her thoughts were interupted by a question from Jaune.

"Hey, Weiss?"

"Hmm?" Weiss replied with a hum.

"You said that if your secret got out, it would be bad for you. Why is that, if you don't mind me asking."

Weiss just smiled and shook her head. "It's not something I like to talk about. Maybe some other time. We are having a pleasant night. Let's not ruin it with stuff like that, ok?"

Jaune gave a soft smile. "Ok."

_'Can't blame him for being curious, but no bad thoughts tonight. I want to be able to smile when I look back on this.'_

\-----

Pyrrha was unfortunately not having a particularly good night. Jaune still didn't realize she liked him, having a crush on Weiss like he did. She was even more surprised when he came back to the room the night before and said that Weiss was going with him to the dance.

_'Nora was right. I should have practiced what I preached and just asked him myself.'_

She honestly wondered why Weiss had changed her mind. Neptune had been shamelessly flirting with her for the last few weeks and she was flirting right back. Even Pyrrha could recognize that.

As she stood near the punch bowl, Ruby walked up to her. "Hiding by the snack table too?"

"Indeed."

"Hey, sorry Jaune didn't ask you to the dance."

Pyrrha looked down at her drink. "I get it. He has had a thing for Weiss since the first day of school. I'm happy for him. It's my own fault for not asking him myself. I thought for sure she would have come with Neptune though."

Ruby looked confused for a moment. "You didn't know?"

Pyrrha gave her a confused look right back.

Ruby tapped her chin. "Well, I suppose Jaune wouldn't have had any reason to mention it. Neptune turned Weiss down."

Pyrrha looked very surprised. "No, I had no idea. Those two were flirting for weeks. I wonder what changed."

Ruby shrugged. "Don't know. Me and Weiss didn't really get into it much."

Pyrrha looked out to the floor and saw Jaune and Weiss dancing. Weiss was giggling at something he said. She looked happy. Pyrrha was happy for her friends, but it was bittersweet, and brought a sad frown to her face. That was when Weiss looked over and made eye contact with Pyrrha, her happy face falling and she suddenly had a guilty look in her eyes. Jaune said something to her and Weiss shook her head like she was clearing it, before looking back up at him and smiling again, answering whatever question he had just asked her.

Ruby nudged Pyrrha's side and brought her out of her thoughts. "Hey, you might still get a chance with him. It's just one night. It's not like they are dating or anything."

Pyrrha looked back down at the smaller huntress. "Yeah, I suppose that is true. Would have been nice to come with him though. I'm just glad he is happy."

Ruby held her glass up in a toast. "Here's to missed chances, eh?"

Pyrrha chuckled and clinked glasses with her, then looked down at Ruby after her words sank in to see her watching Weiss and Jaune. "Ruby, were **you** going to ask Jaune to the dance?"

Ruby shook her head. "No. Don't get me wrong, I get why you like him. He's funny and nice and cute in a dorky kind of way, but he's not my type."

_'I don't think I have a type, now that I think about it...'_

"Besides, I know how much you like him."

Pyrrha was confused. "Then why are you staring at them...like...? Wait, were you going to ask Weiss?"

Ruby looked embarrassed and shrugged her shoulders. "I thought about it, but I didn't think she'd be interested. We all know how much she likes Neptune."

Pyrrha nodded at that. "I didn't even know you liked girls."

Ruby shrugged again. "I don't. Well, I don't think I do."

"But...you like Weiss?"

Ruby dropped her head back and groaned in frustration. "I don't know. I mean, she is pretty and smart and can be really nice when you get to know her, and I like all of that, but I don't know if that is me..ya know.. **'liking her'** liking her, or just that I like being her friend." She brought her head back up and she smiled to herself. "Her lips are really soft though."

Pyrrha almost did a spit take. "What!? How do you know that?"

Ruby looked sheepish. "Ok, you know how about a month ago our team got in a fight down near the harbor?"

Pyrrha nodded.

"Well, I took a nasty hit and ended up getting thrown into the water. I hit my head pretty bad on the railing and was barely awake. I couldn't get my body to move and was just barely able to hold my breath. Weiss dove in after me and she kinda...put her mouth on mine and gave me air before pulling me to the surface." _'Huh...I wonder how she managed to do that. Must have really good lung capacity from all that singing...goodness knows she can yell pretty loud.'_

Pyrrha blinked at that.

"I never told Yang and Blake that part, and at the time I didn't think about it because I was freezing and I knew she did it to save me, plus there was apparently a Grimm chasing us in the water, but later on when I thought about it more, it kinda made me think of a kiss and I...kinda liked it...I guess?" Ruby shrugged again like she wasn't completely sure of her own words.

Pyrrha grinned. "I'm not sure emergency respiration should really count as a kiss, despite how soft someone's lips are."

Ruby groaned and looked down at the floor. "Feelings are complicated and weird."

Pyrrha sniffed at that and smiled. "Yes, that is very true. Don't feel too bad. You're only fifteen. You are just finally getting to the awkward part of growing up."

"That doesn't really make me feel better Pyrrha."

Pyrrha giggled at that and a thought came to her. "Hey Ruby? Do you want to dance?"

Ruby looked up at her in confusion.

Pyrrha turned her head and looked down at the smaller huntress. "We could stay here at the snack table sulking all night, or we could go have fun as friends. I mean, Yang has already danced with Blake even though she came with Sun. What do you say?"

Ruby thought about it for a moment, then looked up and smiled. "Sure. Fair warning though. I can barely walk in these stupid lady stilts, and I'm not a fancy, schmancy, dancy kinda girl, so I'm not sure how I'm going to do."

Pyrrha put her drink down and held out her hand. "We'll go slow. Just do whatever feels natural."

Ruby put down her drink and let Pyrrha lead her out to the dance floor.

\-----

Ruby found herself having a surprising good time. Just being out there with a friend with no pressure of it being a date helped. She couldn't dance very well, but she was able to at least move her body to the music, and that was enough. Pyrrha apparently actually knew how to dance and was doing a much better job. _'How do her and Weiss walk and dance in heels? Let alone FIGHT in them!?'_

After a while, Pyrrha excused herself to get some air, but Ruby found herself actually wanting to keep going, so when she spotted Penny standing between two Atlas soldiers, she decided to go say hi.

After saying goodbye to Pyrrha, Ruby did a little shuffling dance over to Penny and her apparent escorts. "Hey Penny. Would you like to dance?"

Penny smiled. "Hello friend Ruby." She looked up at one of the soldiers and after a moment, the soldier gave a reluctant nod and Penny looked back at Ruby. "I would be happy to dance with you." Ruby took Penny's hand and brought her out onto the dance floor, far enough away from the soldiers to have some privacy to talk, but close enough that they could see them. Ruby found it funny when Penny started doing 'The Robot', and happily joined in, deciding that coming to the dance wasn't so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone was wondering what little dance Ruby was doing on her way over to Penny, just look up the dance Mercy does in Overwatch.
> 
> Comments are appreciated. I'm trying out different writing styles, trying to figure out what works best for proper story flow. Not sure I like how this chapter is formatted, so it might get an update in the future.
> 
> Still taking votes on my next project.  
> 1\. RWBY sisters fic  
> or  
> 2\. RWBY/Skyrim crossover
> 
> Put your votes in the comments.


	10. The Greek and the Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than usual because I couldn't find a better place between this and the next chapter to stop. Only 2 more chapters related to the dance, and then we get back to some action. After that we hit a major plot point for the fic (Drama, angst, and feels).

Pyrrha leaned against the railing, breathing in the cool night air. She was still a little sad about the entire Jaune situation, but she did have fun with Ruby, and that helped. Something about Weiss' reaction when they saw each other still bugged her though.

_'Why did she look so sad when she looked at me? She was happy with Jaune, wasn't she?'_

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps near the door. She looked over her shoulder to see Neptune standing there.

"Oh, sorry, didn't know anyone else was up here."

Pyrrha looked back toward the city. "It's ok, I don't mind if you don't."

Neptune walked up and leaned on the balcony a few feet away from her.

"Uh...Pyrrha, right?" Pyrrha nodded.

"Neptune, correct?" Neptune nodded in kind.

Pyrrha looked over at him. "What brings you out here?"

Neptune shrugged. "Party was getting kind of boring. I mean, ballroom dancing? Lots of pretty girls though, eh?"

Pyrrha gave him a strange look. "I....suppose...one could look at it that way. I didn't really notice."

Neptune got a confused look on his face for a moment, then looked embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I saw you dancing with Ruby earlier and I just sort of...assumed. Sorry."

Pyrrha smiled and nodded in understanding.

"It's alright. Ruby and I were just dancing because neither of us had dates and just wanted to have some fun."

Neptune grinned. "Well, you guys certainly seem to have fun around here."

Pyrrha smiled. "That indeed we do. I've made some good friends here."

Neptune nodded. "Sun sure latched onto you guys pretty quick. I'm still getting to know them all."

"You seem to be getting along with Weiss pretty well." Pyrrha was happy she managed to keep any ill tone out of her voice. It was her own fault that she lost Jaune to the heiress.

Neptune smiled a bit to himself. "Yeah, I don't know her **super** well yet, but she's pretty cool. I kinda like her."

Pyrrha chuckled. "I figured as much. You two have been flirting with each other for weeks."

Neptune just grinned. "Yeah, I suppose we have been."

Pyrrha decided to let her curiosity get the better of her. "Neptune, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"If you like Weiss so much, why did you turn her down when she asked you to the dance?"

Neptune looked uncomfortable. "Oh...You heard about that, huh? Um...I just wasn't sure if it would work out."

"What are you talking about? She obviously likes you."

Neptune looked away. "I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of her."

Pyrrha looked even more confused. "How would you do that?"

Neptune wouldn't make eye contact with her. "I....can't dance."

Pyrrha looked at him in bewilderment. "You are saying that you turned down a girl you like. One that obviously likes you back, because you are embarrassed that you can't dance?"

Neptune let out a defeated sigh. "Pretty much, yeah."

Pyrrha looked back over the railing, thinking out loud. "Wow, and I thought I was bad at dating..."

Neptune looked back over at her.

"At least she found someone to go with, right? Her and Jaune look pretty good together. I suppose I just missed my chance because I was scared."

Pyrrha chuckled sadly. "Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that going around lately."

"What do you mean?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "Nothing. Well, you shouldn't be embarrassed. Ruby can't dance either, but she still had fun. I bet you could too."

"Yeah, but...

Pyrrha turned to look at him. "Neptune, you don't have to try and look cool and be popular all the time. Believe me, it can work against you. Just be yourself. You'll be happier in the long run."

Neptune stood there looking thoughtful for a few moments, then smiled. "Yeah, I suppose. Thanks Pyrrha. Your pretty cool."

Pyrrha chuckled. "I suppose. Goodnight Neptune."

Neptune rejoined the party while Pyrrha stayed out on the balcony enjoying the air for a while longer. _'I suppose now I know why Weiss didn't get her date.'_

\-----

After a few more songs, even Ruby's boundless energy was starting to wear down. Penny was literally a dancing machine, and soon Ruby excused herself and went up to the second floor balcony and just people watch for awhile. That was where Yang found her. "Hey sis. Having fun?"

Ruby looked over at her sister. "Yeah, and everybody is having a really good time. You and Weiss did a really great job."

"Awe! Thanks sis!" Yang said and she pulled Ruby into a strangling one armed hug.

"Yang! Air!"

Yang laughed as she let her sister go. "I saw you working your way through the crowd tonight. Two ladies in one night. I didn't even know you were into women, you little minx, you."

Ruby rolled her eyes and grinned. "Oh, shush! It's not like you haven't been dancing with every 'single' boy and girl in the building either. Besides, I'm not into women. I'm not **into** anything. Pyrrha was sad because she wanted to come with Jaune and we decided to have fun instead of hiding at the snack table, and I haven't seen Penny in awhile, so I wanted to hang out."

Yang grinned. "I'm just joking sis. Besides, you're still young. Once puberty kicks in maybe you'll figure out who you are into."

Ruby groaned. "Ok, first of all, I have already gone through puberty, thank you very much. I'm just not interested in anyone. Secondly, Pyrrha said basically the same thing you just did. I just want to hunt Grimm, not worry about feelings and romance. Feelings are weird."

Yang laughed. "You're 'still' going through puberty, sis. Either way, when or if you decide you like someone, you can come talk to me, ok?

Ruby smiled. "Sure thing sis." _'Yeah... that isn't happening. If I end up liking someone, I'd prefer them to not get scared off by an overprotective big sister before I actually have a chance to date them...'_ "I'm just having fun for now with friends. Besides, classes start back up tomorrow, so we should take the time to relax and enjoy the night with friends, right?"

Yang smirked at her sister. "Look at you being all wise and stuff. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone that I saw you talking to Ozpin earlier and he gave you that advice."

Ruby rolled her eyes and groaned. "Can't let me be the cool, wise leader for once, can you?"

Yang gave her another wide grin. "Nope! Need to make sure you don't get too full of yourself, especially when you got to dance with Pyrrha Nikos." 

Looking down at the dance floor, she got another big grin as they both looked down and saw Pyrrha coming back down the stairs into the ballroom. "Speaking of which... If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get some dance time with that sexy redhead myself."

Ruby gave Yang a wave as her sister ran off to meet Pyrrha. After watching the dance floor a bit more, waving to Weiss and Jaune when they looked up and saw her, she decided to get some air herself, and walked out onto the balcony.

_'Blake showed up and is actually smiling again. Weiss is having fun. Jaune is happy. Ren and Nora are enjoying themselves. Yang is having a blast, and Pyrrha is smiling. It's been a good night.'_

As she looked out over the city, she squinted and could swear she saw a figure running along the rooftops...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha is based on Achilles (a hero from Greek legend), and Neptune is the Roman name for Poseidon, god of the sea. (In case anyone was wondering about the chapter name.) 
> 
> Also, I always saw Neptune as that nerd that acted cool, but put so much work into it, that he no longer knew how to act normal. His 'cool, ladies man' attitude became a habit he doesn't know how to shut off. Obviously, this hurt him in the long run. (Like Weiss having to learn to loosen up and be herself, Neptune needs to learn to stop trying to be the suave ladies man, especially if he wants a normal relationship at any point.) 
> 
> Yeah, Ruby is totally Ace or Demi in this story. Not to mention she is at that age where feelings are complicated and weird and scary and she would rather just fight Grimm because that is a simple and straightforward idea.
> 
> As far as Yang. When I saw the 'Yellow' trailer way back in the day, I thought Yang was gay or just a very 'doesn't give a crap' person. Episode 3 of Volume 1 with the comment about boys made me change my opinion to her being straight or Bi, so in this story Yang is Bi.
> 
> Last thing: After 4 weeks, and a 5-2 vote, I'll start working on my RWBY/Skyrim crossover fic once I'm all caught up with this one. (That may take longer as I keep coming up with more ideas for post Vol 5/Pre Volume 6 original chapters.) I have been working on a basic outline for the chapters for the Skyrim fic along with smoothing out details for any RWBY related stuff getting put in the Skyrim world. It will include JNPR and a few other RWBY characters here and there in addition to team RWBY. I think everyone will enjoy how they are portrayed. 
> 
> For those that were voting for the RWBY Sisters fic; if I ever get more time in my schedule or when I finish the Skyrim fic, I will do that one next. (I will probably write a scene here and there in my notes when the mood strikes me, but I will not be doing any major work on it for the time being.)


	11. Red, White, and Feeling Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ended up combining the next 2 chapters because this chapter ended up being even shorter than the previous one, but combining those 2 just didn't feel right. So, you guys get a slightly longer than normal one this week.

Pyrrha had a lot of conflicting feelings going on. She felt happy for Jaune for finally getting his date with Weiss. At the same time she felt sad for Weiss for not getting her date with Neptune, but jealous that she got a date with Jaune instead. Eventually, with a frown, she decided to head back down to the dance. _'I should just call it a night.'_ she thought to herself as she got back to the dance floor. That was until she heard a cheery voice calling her name and one Yang Xiao Long running up to her. 

Yang grabbed her hand. "Come on!"

Pyrrha was shocked. "Yang!? What is going on?"

Yang turned around and gave her a stern look. "Two things. First, you don't get to dance with my sister and not give me the same courtesy." 

Yang's stern expression turned to a sly grin.

"Secondly, that adorable sister of mine got to cheer you up, but now I get to show you a good time. Now, come on! No frowns for you. So what if you didn't get a night with tall, blonde and bumbling? You get to have some time with tall, blonde, and busty! You are leaving this dance with a smile tonight!"

With that, Pyrrha laughed as Yang drug her out onto the dance floor. _'I have such great friends.'_ She thought with a smile.

\-----

Weiss' evening ended better than she could have hoped. Jaune was an excellent date when he wasn't trying too hard and was just himself. 

_'Maybe that is what Pyrrha sees in him.'_

Unsurprisingly, but somewhat to her disappointment, even with how well things went, there was just no 'spark' of attraction. She didn't think of Jaune as annoying anymore (Well...assuming he acted like this in the future). She could even see them becoming friends, but there were no butterflies in her stomach or embarrassed blushes to make her feel giddy. There never really was a physical attraction either. He wasn't ugly or anything, but he just didn't look 'attractive' to her. 

Everything was just...nice. Much better than any of the nights at SDC parties with suitors that just looked for her name or money, but nothing spectacular. Pleasant, but mundane. She was almost hoping there would be something more, some previously unknown feelings surfacing, but there was nothing. 

_'Not that I really expected any different, but it probably would have made things easier on both of us.'_

Now she was going to have to reject him all over again, and now that she actually **kinda** liked the klutz, she was going to feel bad about it. On top of all of that, was the look on Pyrrha's face when she and Weiss made eye contact that night. Pyrrha looked so sad and Weiss had to force herself to not feel guilty. 

_'I guess she didn't give up on him after all.'_

Those were the thoughts Weiss was trying to keep out of her head as she and Jaune walked back to the dorms. She didn't want to ruin the nice night she had with those thoughts. That could wait until the morning. As they got to their doors, Jaune looked at Weiss. "I had a really good time tonight. Thanks for asking me."

Weiss smiled. "I did too Jaune. I had a really nice time."

_'It would have been nice to come with Neptune, but I had a good night with Jaune, so I can't really complain.'_

The two stood there awkwardly for a few moments. Weiss realized that she wasn't sure what to do. She knew what Jaune was thinking, she was thinking it too. 

_'Normally a date ends with a kiss, but we went as friends. What do you do in this situation?'_

Jaune was getting nervous and awkward again. He looked like he was deciding whether to try and hug her or not. Eventually, he stuck out his hand for a handshake. 

Weiss let a small grin slip while trying not to roll her eyes.

_'What a dork. He isn't pressing his luck by just assuming I'd kiss him though. He's learning.'_

Weiss decided on a way to save them both some embarrassment. She reached out and grabbed his fingers with hers. Jaune looked a little confused. Weiss gave him a wider grin and giggled. 

"Kiss my hand, Jaune." 

Jaune's eyes lit up in recognition. He bent down and gave her hand a gentle kiss. 

"The pleasure was all mine." It was a little cheesy, but she couldn't help but smile at that. It actually fit the situation and it wasn't **too** cheesy, at least not for him. 

Jaune stood back up and let go of her hand with a smile. "Goodnight Weiss."

As he turned toward his door, Weiss grabbed his shoulder and stood up on her toes to give him a peck on the cheek. "Goodnight Jaune." 

_'The guy earned that much tonight.'_   Weiss thought with a smile.

As she was doing this, she noticed a flash of red out of the corner of her eye, and glanced over to see Pyrrha just walking around the corner. Pyrrha didn't seem to notice that Weiss saw her, and Jaune didn't see Pyrrha, so Weiss pretended she didn't see her either and they both went to their rooms. Weiss knew what she had to do.

_'So much for waiting until morning to deal with guilt...'_

\-----

Pyrrha's good mood from the dance nearly evaporated when she saw Weiss give Jaune a kiss. Neither of them seemed to notice she was there and went into their respective dorms. She quickly composed herself so that she could face Jaune without letting on how sad she was. She would have to pretend that everything was ok. It was going to be hard. 

_'Stay calm Pyrrha. It's like Ruby said. It was just one night. They aren't dating or anything.'_

As she got to her door, she heard the door behind her open and a timid sounding voice call out to her. 

"Pyrrha? Can we talk?"

Pyrrha turned around to see Weiss standing in her doorway looking at the floor.

"What is it Weiss?" She couldn't quite keep the hurt out of her voice and Weiss flinched before stepping to the side, inviting Pyrrha into the room.

When she entered, Weiss shut the door and sat on her bed. Pyrrha sat on Blake's bed and waited for whatever Weiss had to say.

"Pyrrha...what is it that you see in Jaune?"

That was not a question Pyrrha was expecting. She took a moment to think on her answer.

"Weiss, do you remember what happened the day of initiation in the locker room when Jaune was talking to us?"

Weiss chuckled "Yeah, Jaune was hitting on me and being all cocky. Didn't even recognize you until I told him you were on a cereal box."

"Exactly."

Weiss blinked, then looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Pyrrha looked Weiss in the eyes. "Weiss, you are famous. What is one of the things you worry the most about when someone is trying to ask you out?"

"Well, that they only want me for my money or name..." then it suddenly seemed to click and Weiss' eyes widened in understanding. "...and Jaune had no idea who you were..."

Pyrrha nodded. "Weiss, I've been 'blessed with incredible talents and opportunities'." Pyrrha sounded like the words left a bitter taste in her mouth. "I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise, but when you are placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place. Even you were doing it that day when you asked if I'd be your partner."

Weiss looked to the side guiltily again. Pyrrha was right.

Pyrrha sighed. "Weiss, being famous for me is more of a curse than a blessing. Constant expectation to keep performing better and never losing. It makes it nearly impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people. If anyone else in this school can understand that, it would be you."

Weiss looked back down at the floor. "Yeah, I understand that completely."

_'You have **no** idea how much I relate to that Pyrrha. The difference is with you, it's fans and sponsors. With me, it's just one man...'_

Weiss shook her head to clear it and continued. "It was part of the reason I kept rejecting Jaune. I figured he was after me for my fame or money..." Weiss chuckled. "...and his pickup lines were awful."

Pyrrha smiled. "Yes, they could use a little work. The point is, he didn't treat me like a celebrity. He treated me just like anyone else. I'm not 'The Invincible Girl' to him. I'm just Pyrrha. Because of him, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. He is the reason I even have actual friends, and not just fans."

Pyrrha smiled to herself, remembering when she unlocked his Aura. 

"That is not all though. He is kind, and selfless, and loyal to his friends in a way that I've rarely seen in people. Maybe Ozpin saw it too, and that is why he was named leader of our team, but Jaune has tons of potential. With proper training, he could be a great Huntsman. My feelings for him are not the only reason I chose to help him train. He works harder and is more determined to better himself than any of us. He just has a lot of catching up to do."

Weiss nodded in understanding.

Now Pyrrha had a question of her own. "Weiss, why did you change your mind about going out with Jaune?"

Weiss looked up at Pyrrha's eyes, then back to the floor. She looked really guilty. "Among a few other reasons, I thought you had given up on him, so..." Weiss shrugged her shoulders.

"What other reasons?"

Weiss sighed. "Last night, I went and asked Neptune to the dance, because we had been flirting for a few weeks, and he still never asked me, so I decided to make the first move. He turned me down. I figured, if I misread the signs from him THAT badly...maybe I misread Jaune too."

Pyrrha blinked at that, but Weiss was still looking at the floor, and didn't notice.

"As I was leaving, I found out that Jaune had been coming to give it one last shot..." Weiss pointed to the flower in her hair. "...and after some thought, I realized that maybe he wasn't after me for my money, so I messaged him and asked him to meet me by the fountain, then I asked him to the dance as friends. Just go and, you know...see what develops. I thought maybe I'd see in him what you do."

Pyrrha was at a loss for words. She thought maybe Weiss just agreed because she was shot down by Neptune and didn't want to go alone. She had no idea that Weiss was actually trying with Jaune, let alone that she had asked him herself. She was almost afraid of the answer to her next question. "So...now what?"

Weiss looked up. "What?"

Pyrrha tried her best to keep any emotion off her face. "Where does this put you and Jaune now?"

Weiss sighed.

"Honestly? I have no idea. I had a nice time tonight, and he was a good date....but...there just wasn't anything there. I don't know whether to give it one more shot, or just let him know it won't work out. Plus, knowing that you actually still like him, that just adds another layer of complications. Right now, I'm just leaving it up to him. If he asks me out again, I'll have to make a decision, and I'm not sure what to do. I thought I was pretty good at reading people's intentions, but it seems like I'm constantly wrong here."

Pyrrha gave Weiss a sad smile. "Weiss, you aren't bad at judging people. I actually talked to Neptune tonight and asked him why he turned you down, and you know what he told me?"

Weiss turned and locked eyes with Pyrrha so fast she thought she heard Weiss' neck pop.

"He told me that he turned you down because he was afraid of embarrassing himself in front of you. He really does like you."

Weiss huffed. "What does he have to be embarrassed about? He's smart, he's cute, and he's a real sweet talker."

Pyrrha bit her lip, not sure she should tell her, but figured it would make Weiss feel better. With a small grin, she said. "He was embarrassed because he can't dance."

Weiss blinked a few times, then closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as Pyrrha's words sunk in. "That...idiot."

Pyrrha chuckled. "There has been a lot of people tonight that missed chances because they were scared of what would happen. Me, Neptune, even Ruby."

Weiss pulled her hand away and gave Pyrrha a confused look. "Ruby was scared to ask the person she liked? She made it sound like she just changed her mind because they already had a date. Huh, I wonder who it was."

Pyrrha bit her lip again. She couldn't let THIS one slip. "She may have mentioned who it was, but she'd have to be the one to tell you. It's not my place. The better question is, what are you going to do about Neptune now?"

Weiss groaned and flopped back onto her bed. Pyrrha was relieved that Weiss didn't press for details about Ruby. 

"I don't know. As much as I'd like to go smack him upside the head...and then drag him off to dinner...I can't. It wouldn't be fair to Jaune. I need to figure out what I'm going to do there first. It would be inconsiderate to just start dating Neptune right after I went on one with Jaune without making things clear between us first."

That surprised Pyrrha. She thought for sure Weiss would jump at the chance to go out with Neptune now that she knew the truth. _'She really is trying to be a better person.'_

Weiss sat back up. "I'm just going to have to see what happens with Jaune. Neptune will just have to wait, and maybe we can give it a shot if things don't work out. Maybe one more date, and if nothing comes from it, I'll try to let him down easy. I don't want to lead him on if nothing is going to come from it. That is detrimental to both of us."

Pyrrha looked sad, but she was going to be strong about this. "You are being very mature about this Weiss. I'm glad you are giving him an honest chance."

If it were even possible, Weiss looked even more guilty than before. "I'm sorry Pyrrha. I know this is all really hard for you to hear. Especially now that I know you still like him."

Pyrrha stood up and started walking toward the door. "It's like I said earlier. People missed chances because they were too scared to step up. That seems to be one thing you and Jaune have in common. You two weren't scared to take a chance."

Weiss got up and met Pyrrha at the door. "Pyrrha, for what it's worth, I hope Jaune comes to his senses and sees what a great partner he has waiting right there for him. You two are good for each other."

Pyrrha smiled down at Weiss. "Thank you Weiss. That means a lot, and good luck with whatever happens for you."

Weiss smiled as she opened the door. "Thank you. Goodnight Pyrrha."

"Goodnight Weiss."

As Weiss closed the door, she turned around and looked up at Ruby's bed. _'I wonder where she disappeared off to. I didn't see her at the dance when I left.'_

Pyrrha walked into her room to see Jaune in his sleepwear laying on his bed looking at the ceiling. "Hey, how was your date with Weiss?"

Jaune looked over at her with a smile. "Oh, hey." His smile slid away slightly. "It was good. We had a fun night. It was....nice." 

Pyrrha gave him a playful grin. "Just nice? I figured you'd be grinning ear to ear right now."

Jaune sighed. "Yeah, me too."

Pyrrha frowned and sat down on her bed, looking at him. "Want to talk about it?"

Jaune sat up and looked at her. "Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, seeing as how I combined chapters, that is it for the dance. Next week we get back into the action, then the plot heats up and drama ensues.  
> As always, I appreciate comments on the story and how the writing is going.


	12. The Breach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note before this chapter. I decided to add this chapter in at basically the last minute (as in, I didn't write it 2 months ago). Even though I'm not big on writing battles, I just couldn't pass up the Breech without feeling guilty about doing so. (It is one of my favorite episodes). 
> 
> Unfortunately, I combined the previous 2 chapters, which gave me 1 less week to work on things. That, in combination with a particularly grueling week at work, and I didn't get it finished until right before posting. As such, I didn't get to do my normal routine of reading it over 6-7 times to get the flow to my liking, so it might be a little rough. Since the next 3 chapters or so are up to my liking (they are some of the first ones I wrote), I will probably take some time to clean this chapter up to my usual standards, but I didn't want to postpone the upload longer than necessary. Who knows, it might actually have turned out really good and I won't have to fix anything. (Fingers crossed, right?)
> 
> Also, Next week I will be at DragonCon, so I will have the chapter queued for upload, but might not respond to comments for a few days afterwards. Just a heads up for the readers, as next week we hit a major plot point for the story.

_"Are you telling me this mangy, drooling, mutt...is going to wive with us forevah!? Oh yes he is! Yes he is!"_

_\-----_

_" Why hello girls! Who's ready to fight for their lives?"_

_"We normally go to the city with you guys, which means stuff's always exploding and junk. So we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, y'know...normal."_

_"Four Minutes Ladies!"_

_"Well...wish us luck."_

_"Hey Jaune?"_

_"Yeah Weiss?"_

_"I need to talk to you about something when we get back, if you have time."_

_"Sure thing. I actually need to talk to you about something anyway."_

_"Five Minutes, Miss Schnee!"_

_"Ok, See ya later."_

_\-----_

_"And you Miss Schnee, a girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work. So, why choose this over a cushy job in Atlas?"_

_"It's exactly as you said, I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty."_

_\-----_

_"Maybe he was just curious."_

_"Ya think?"_

_"No."_

_"Weiss, are you awake?"_

_"Of course I'm awake! You two are talking! And..When I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it, but...It's not what you think. I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a....moral grey area."_

_"That's putting it lightly."_

_"Which is why I feel the need to make things right! If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything. My father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it."_

_'I will bring honor back to the Schnee name.'_

 

_\-----_

_"You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake."_

_"But, I am! I do it all the time! When you found out I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran."_

_'Would I do the same if I was exposed...?'_

_\-----_

_"We all have this romanticized vision of being a Huntress in our heads. But, at the end of the day...It's a job to protect the people...and whatever we want, will have to come second."_

_\-----_

_"We're not looking for an underground crime network. We're looking for AN UNDERGROUND CRIME NETWORK!"_

_'Oh, no...'_

_"If Ruby is down there, we must find her."_

_'We're coming Ruby. Just hang on...'_

_\-----_

_"White Fang!"_

_"There's Ruby!"_

_"RUBY!"_

_"Ruby, are you okay?"_

_\-----_

_"We're stopping that train!"_

_\-----_

_"Dr. Oobleck...what is that?"_

_"That, my dear...appears to be a bomb."_

_\-----_

_"I guess this is what we trained for."_

_"Blake. Here...this should help you."_

_"Dust rounds?"_

_"You should be able to use them with your semblance."_

_\-----_

_"You go on ahead."_

_"Finally, I get to kill a Schnee."_

_'I don't think so, you White Fang brute.'_

_'That chainsaw sword can't catch me.'_

_'Parry...dodge left...jab...backspring....time dilation glyph...six glyph pattern...just one more good strike...'_

_"Come 'ere, Princess."_

_'NO! AHHH!'_

_\-----_

_"Weiss! are you ok!?"_

_"Blake? Sorry, I couldn't take him down."_

_"It's ok. Just glad you are alive."_

_"Did you get Torchwick?"_

_"You're more important. Come on. There's a roof hatch."_

_"What do we do?"_

_"Weiss. Ice shell."_

\-----

When Weiss' vision cleared, she looked around to see Yang and Blake sitting up among rubble. She blinked a couple times, then saw Ruby giving her a concerned look.

Weiss gave her team leader a thumbs up.

_'I'm not dead yet...'_

As she got her bearings and looked around, she saw that they were in the middle of Vale, and the warning sirens were going off.

_'Ugh...ok. Get things in order Weiss. White Fang... Torchwick... Train... bombs.... Grimm..chasing...THE TRAIN!'_

The ground suddenly started shaking and Weiss could smell the Grimm coming. There had to be hundreds if she could smell them over the smoke and the smell of the city. She looked over to Ruby and saw the realization come across her leader's face. A second later, Grimm started pouring out of the breech, ignoring the four Huntress trainees to chase the terrified citizens of Vale.

Weiss got to her feet, grimacing at the pain from the crash, and looked over at Ruby.

"Ruby! We need to get to a defensible position!"

Ruby looked around quickly and spotted what she needed.

"Get to the stage! We need to keep the Grimm's attention so the civilians can run."

Yang looked at her sister.

"You want us to be bait!?"

Blake glanced at Yang before she started quickly following Ruby.

"You got a better idea?"

Yang looked at Weiss. Weiss looked around the plaza for a moment, then back at the blonde.

"There's too many streets for us to cover. If we keep their attention, most of them will stay here. The police can hold off any stragglers until reinforcements arrive. It's our best chance."

Yang grinned as she followed Weiss to the stage.

"Oh...this is gonna be interesting...."

\-----

As the girls stood on the stage that had held the Atlas robots demonstration just days ago, the Grimm started to surround them, seeing what they thought was easy prey. With how nervous they all felt, Weiss could see why. Yang spoke up first.

"OK, step one complete sis? What now?"

Ruby smiled when the first Grimm roared.

"In the words of Doctor Oobleck. Let's show them what we are capable of."

With that, Ruby leapt off of the stage into the middle of a large group of Beowulves and proceeded to tear them apart with her scythe.

Weiss watched as a Beowulf charged her.

_'Well, these Grimm must be young, if they are dieing so easily. We might actually have a chance of surviving until help arrives.'_

Yang had leapt off the stage and was bombarding Grimm from the sky, while Blake was taking out Creepers with single shots to the head. Weiss caught the Beowulf that leapt at her with a slash across the chest, watching as it crashed onto it's back and started to dissolve. With a yell, her back swing caught the next one across the neck. With a final spin, she stabbed a third through the chest as it was about to claw her in the back. As she looked up she saw three more charging in a group. With no time to switch dust to freeze them, Weiss tried something Winter had explained to her in one of their training sessions. Weiss wasn't real familiar with the 'Aura Slash' technique, but Ruby had gushed about Blake using it the fight against the Paladin. The concept was simple. Channel your aura into your weapon and swing.

Weiss bent her legs and concentrated. Her form was sloppy, but she was in a hurry. A glyph appeared under her, and with a yell she spun, sending an arc of white light out that smashed into all four Grimm coming at her, catching two across the chest, one across the neck, and one right across the eyes. They didn't get back up. Weiss took the moment of calm to critique her work.

_'Need to refine that. That took more aura then it should have. Form was way too sloppy. Amateur work at best.'_

She took a quick moment to check on her team. Blake was busy taking down anything that came within range, Yang was her normal wild self.

_'Did she just punch a car?'_

And....Ruby was staring down a King Taijitu. Weiss was about to run to assist, when both Ruby and the Grimm looked up at the sound of an explosion.

"NORA SMASH!"

Weiss let out a sigh of relief. JNPR arrived. That meant even more backup wasn't far behind. They could win this. Weiss didn't get more time to think on this, however, as more Grimm spotted her and began to charge.

_'Once more into the breech, dear friends.'_

Weiss heard some yelling and caught a glimpse of blue hair while she took out her opponents.

_'Sun and Neptune must have been nearby. Wait..what's that noise? Sounds like...'_

Weiss looked up as the visiting Atlasian fleet came rolling across the sky, dropping hundreds of robot soldiers into the square. Weiss knew the city was going to be fine now. Now she could concentrate on helping civilians. Ruby apparently had the same idea as she called out to the team.

"Guys! New mission! Search and rescue!"

As the team started heading out to assist the police with any stray Grimm or trapped civilian, Weiss heard a gatling gun rev up. At first she was worried.

_'No. There is no way the gun ships would fire into this crowded of an area.'_

Weiss turned back around to see it wasn't a gunship, but Coco Adel herself. Her briefcase was a gatling gun...and it was tearing through Deathstalkers and Giant Nevermores like they were paper. Weiss stared in awe.

"Wow...."

She snapped back to attention when Ruby called out to her. Shaking her head, she caught up to her team leader. Said leader had a big grin on her face.

"And you call me a weapons geek."

Weiss rolled her eyes and tried to look haughty.

"You are a weapons geek. I was just...admiring the...efficiency of...their teamwork."

Ruby just grinned wider.

"Suuuurrrreee."

Weiss groaned in annoyance at being caught.  Ruby was not going to let her forget that she just fan girled over a weapon.

"Come on. We have a job to do."

Ruby giggled at her. She was enjoying Weiss' embarrassment way too much.

Glynda had arrived and sealed the breach the train had caused, but it was still several hours until all the Grimm had been eliminated. The destruction could have been worse, but it still pained Weiss to see how many buildings had been damaged. There were also dozens of injured civilians and unfortunately, a couple casualties. That was not even counting all of the White Fang that didn't make it out of the tunnels. The police had captured several dozen members and took them to jail, but there had been at least a hundred on that train, and not even half had survived.

_'I wonder how many of them truly hated humans, and how many were like Blake, and just wanted equality...'_

On a positive note, it seemed that Emerald and Mercury had found Torchwick hiding in a store and captured him. Weiss took some comfort in the fact that a major criminal had been taken off the streets.

A couple hours later, the team arrived back at Beacon. They sat down on the edge of the landing pad, looking out at the city. Atlas battleships were patrolling the skies in case of further attack, and the sun was just starting to set. It had been a hell of a day.

Yang took in a relieved breath.

"Well, we did it."

Blake smiled at her.

"We did."

Weiss was exhausted. These last two days went WAY beyond mission parameters.

"If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm going to be seriously disappointed."

Yang looked over at her.

"Weiss, a two-headed snake literally crushed a bakery. I wouldn't count on it."

Weiss pouted at that as Ruby spoke up.

"Plus, I mean, we didn't solve everything. A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't even know why they did this, or who that mystery girl was."

Weiss looked over at her team leader.

_'Sometimes I wish things just worked out too, but that isn't how life goes. If it did, Blake and I wouldn't have to hide.'_

"Well, not every story has a neat and tidy ending."

Blake did do her part to cheer Ruby back up.

"We might not have all of the answers, but we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars, and I think that's something we can be proud of."

That cheered their young team leader back up.

"Yeah, and if anyone tries something like that again, we'll be ready to stop them."

Yang laid down and put her hands in the air in a tired cheer. Weiss felt like doing the same, but she wasn't sure she was going to be able to get back up if she did.

"Yay. Teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, go team, alright good job."

Yang leaned up on her elbows and looked over at them.

"So, now what?"

Weiss yawned.

"I'd suggest training for the tournament, but...I think we have that covered at this point."

_'I don't think any training we do is going to match up to the last two days.'_

Blake blinked tiredly.

"So then...?"

Ruby noticed the drooping eyes of her teammates. Even she was exhausted.

"Uh, time for bed?"

Weiss let out a sigh of relief at that. The rest of the team was quick to agree.

"Oh please, yes."

"Absolutely."

"I'm going to sleep forever."

As they began walking back toward the school, Weiss kept glancing down at Ruby's feet. More specifically, the small corgi walking next to her feet. Biting her bottom lip for a moment, she decided to ask.

"Hey, Ruby?"

Ruby grinned. Weiss realized she had been caught.

"You want Zwei to sleep in your bed tonight?"

Weiss smiled like a kid in a candy store and put her hands to her chest.

"Please?"

_'He is just so adorable!'_

Zwei looked up at them, then barked once and moved over next to Weiss. Ruby giggled.

"I think he likes that idea too. Watch out. He's a huge snuggler."

Weiss bent down and swept him up in her arms with a huge smile on her face.

_'Best. Day. Ever.'_


	13. A Painful Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. The moment you a lot of you guys have been waiting for. Yea story progression. Also noticed that when breaking up the story into chapters, those chapters have been getting shorter, so once again I'm combining 2 chapters into one. One last mention. I am at DragonCon right now so I may not answer comments for a few days.

The day the rest of her team discovered her secret was one Weiss had hoped to never have to face. It, to her annoyance, ended up being her fault, so she didn't even have anyone else to blame for it but herself, and it was terrifying. As she looked up at her teammates' expressions, she silently wondered if this was how Blake felt when she was discovered.

**Ten minutes earlier...**

After the breach in Vale, and a week to recuperate after the two hellish days of near constant combat, Weiss suggested the team continue training for the Vytal tournament. Even though she originally said the were pretty much ready, after thinking about how both her and Yang, as Yang would say, 'got their butts handed to them' on the train, she reconsidered her previous statement.

Team RWBY was in one of the training rooms late that afternoon, Ruby and Weiss sparing against Blake and Yang. Things were pretty evenly matched, as all four teammates knew each other's styles inside and out, but the fight had gone on for at least ten minutes, and they were all going all out. The fight was intense, and as much as Weiss was loath to admit it, she was not a front line fighter. She was a support role, and a tactician, and although she was powerful, she was physically weaker than the rest of her team, and relied on her semblance even more than the others. Jaune had once referred to her as a 'glass cannon'. Nora had then suggested building one, just to see what would happen.

Ruby and Yang were the powerhouses of the team, and Weiss was starting to realize just how much they relied on Yang to take the hits. Without Yang there to defend her and Ruby (where in fact, she was the one taking hits from them to protect Blake), both girls had to rely on evasion, and Weiss' glyphs were burning through her aura at an alarming rate. The girls had said aura levels displayed up on the board like they would be in the tournament, and Blake noticed that Weiss was one good hit away from the red zone.

As Ruby went for a semblance charged slash at Blake, she ended up hitting a shadow clone instead, causing her to overshoot and end up out of melee range. She recovered quickly, flipping over and switching to her gun mode as she landed, taking shots at Blake. Blake kept sprinting toward Weiss from the back while Yang came at her from the front. They knew she would only be able to defend against one of them effectively and the other would get a solid hit. Ruby would be forced to stop shooting and close to melee range with her semblance, but by then Weiss would be in the red and out of the match.

Weiss saw them both coming and threw a glyph up behind herself while preparing to parry Yang's gauntlet with her sword. That was when things went wrong. Due to fatigue, Weiss miscalculated and misplaced her glyph, and Blake's sword slipped right by the edge of it, hitting Weiss in the back and propelling her forward into Yang's punch. This was where Yang and Blake's plan did not go as they expected, since they both expected only one of them to actually connect. As soon as Blake connected, she turned and used another shadow clone to dodge Ruby coming in for the attack, which caused them both to be in the clear when Weiss came flying back from Yang's punch...

The punch that broke her aura. The same punch that sent a now auraless Weiss directly into the sharp corner of a support pillar on the far wall of the room, and then gravity did its job of bringing her to the floor.

Weiss' loud yelp of pain caused the other three to immediately stop the match and look over at her. As Weiss slowly got to one knee, Ruby was over in an instant in a rush of rose petals.

"Weiss! Are you ok!?"

Weiss held onto her side where she struck the pillar and nodded while trying to stand up, but ended up dropping back to her knees with a cry of pain. Looking down at her hand, Weiss and Ruby both saw her white dress where she held her side slowly turning red.

While Ruby went wide eyed and yelled to the others that Weiss was bleeding and to come help, Weiss started to panic.

_'Oh no. I've injured my gills! I must have ruptured something! Damn it hurts. Oh! Oh no! I can't let them see!'_

Ruby helped lay Weiss on her back and tried to get a look at the damage. Weiss refused to move her hand, shaking her head and trying to squirm away from Ruby's touch.

"Weiss! We need to see what is wrong! Stop moving or you might make it worse!"

As Ruby tried to get Weiss' hand out of the way and get her top off to inspect the damage, Yang and Blake made it over to them. Yang gently took Weiss' hands in her own and spoke calmly.

"Weiss, I know you are a prude, but this is serious. Your health is more important than your modesty. Please, hold still."

Ruby kept her eyes on Weiss' face, rubbing her hand on Weiss' forehead, trying to keep her calm.

"It's gonna be ok Weiss. We just need to see how bad it is. We'll get you to the infirmary as soon as I'm sure we can move you, ok? Blake, cut the shirt. We can't risk aggravating the wound pulling it off."

Weiss whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut tight. Ruby frowned. She knew how Weiss was about changing in front of others, and she felt bad about basically forcing it on her. Yang and Blake didn't look much better off. They all felt like they were violating Weiss in one way or another. That guilt was overridden by the need to make sure their teammate wasn't in any immediate danger. They would apologize more later. Weiss turned her head to the side as she felt her shirt being cut away so Ruby could inspect the damage. That was when she heard the other three gasp in surprise and the clang of metal hitting the floor..

**Present time...**

Ruby was stunned at what she saw. Yang let go of Weiss' hands in surprise. Blake dropped her sword and stared. Weiss had multiple long ridges on her side that were slowly leaking blood. She had another set just like them on her other side that weren't. Weiss quickly wrapped an arm around her chest to protect her modesty, but the others were too busy checking over the bloody damage to notice. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw Weiss' head jerk back forward and looked at her face. Weiss' eyes were wide open and wet with tears, flicking between Ruby, Yang, and finally stopping on Blake. Her face was pale, but Ruby couldn't tell if that was from blood loss, or fear. Weiss certainly looked scared. She managed a few whimpered words.

"Please....no...doctors."

Ruby quickly pulled her eyes away from Weiss' face and looked at Yang and Blake. Yang had a look of concern on her face, but Blake looked like concern for her teammate's health was battling with betrayal and anger at said teammate. Ruby quickly got her mind back on track.

_'Worry about feelings later. Weiss' wound first. Ok, no doctors. We can handle this. Need to clean it out. Need to get her to the showers...or the baths.'_

Ruby looked at her teammates while pulling off her cloak and draping it over Weiss' torso.

"Yang. Take Weiss to the locker room and start running cold water in one of the baths. As cold as it goes. It will slow down the bleeding until her aura comes back. Blake, keep a look out and make sure no one walks in on them. I'm going to run to the dorm and get Weiss' box of sea salt. It will help keep the wound clean."

Yang looked at Ruby while gently picking Weiss up, being careful to not touch the wound.

"Why not just grab a first aid kit and use some disinfectant?"

Ruby shook her head. "That is an internal injury. I don't know enough about first aid yet to risk it. Get moving. I'll meet you there."

Ruby looked up at Blake, who was staring Weiss in the eyes. Her fists were clenched so tight her knuckles were white. Weiss, for her part, was still staring back at Blake in pure terror.

_'Ugh. We don't have time for this!'_

"BLAKE!"

Blake's head snapped around to look at her. Ruby was in 'leader mode' and it was clear in her voice.

"Medical emergency first. Talk later."

Blake closed her eyes and took a calming breath through her nose, then nodded once and followed after Yang. Ruby sighed and using her semblance quickly made her way to the dorm to grab the salt and a spare shirt for Weiss and get back to the locker rooms.

_'This is going to be a long night...'_

Yang carried Weiss carefully to the locker room, looking around to make sure no one else was around. All was quiet as she moved to one of the rooms with a bath. Blake followed behind her, quieter than usual. Even so, Yang could feel the tension rolling off of Blake, and Weiss was oddly silent too, but tears were still running down her cheeks. She looked terrified.

Opening the door, she went in. Blake started to follow, but Yang turned her head and gave her a look. Blake looked very unhappy, but took a deep breath and nodded, staying outside the room. She knew Ruby wanted her to keep lookout, and it seemed her sister agreed with that. Yang walked over to the tub, setting Weiss down inside as gently as she could, then started pulling off Weiss' boots and socks. Afterwards she reached for the skirt, and Weiss tensed up, looking at her. Yang calmly looked at her terrified face.

"Weiss, I'm just trying to save as many of your clothes as possible here. You aren't the first person I've seen in their underwear. I won't even make any jokes, ok?"

Weiss hesitated, but then slowly nodded. She still hadn't said anything. Yang pulled off the skirt and then looked up.

"Ok, I'm gonna take Ruby's cloak, and then I'm going to need you to lean forward so I can get the shirt and coat off, ok?"

Weiss nodded again and did as she was told, hissing in pain when she moved so Yang could get the rest of the bloody clothes off.

"Ok, you can lean back now. Water is going to be as cold as I can get it, ok? Weiss nodded again.

As the freezing water filled the tub, Weiss slowly relaxed. It felt really nice and soothed her nerves...a little. She was still a bit uncomfortable. Her arm and a pair of shorts were the only thing protecting her dignity, and her gills were in full view of Yang. Strangely enough, she felt more self conscious about her gills being on display than the rest of her body being exposed.

Yang went and hung Ruby's cloak on a hook on the door and knelt down beside the tub, looking Weiss over for additional injury. A few bruises here and there from the fall and from hitting the pillar, but nothing serious other than her bleeding side.

Eventually Weiss turned her head and looked at Yang. She seemed to struggle at first to get words out.

"Yang? Do....do you hate me for hiding this?"

Yang sighed.

"Weiss, my own partner hid basically the same thing from us for weeks. She had her reasons and I assume you have yours. I'm not particularly happy about this, but no, I don't hate you. Honestly, I'm not even really mad."

Weiss looked back forward.

"Blake hates me all over again. She looked ready to kill me."

Yang rubbed Weiss' head for a moment.

"I don't think she hates you, but she is really pissed. She will want answers."

At that point, Ruby entered the bathroom and Yang gave Weiss a kiss on the top of her head. She was apparently in full 'mom mode'. Yang stood up.

"I'll go talk to Blake. See if I can calm her down."

\-----

Ruby got back to the locker rooms and saw Blake pacing back and forth in front of the door to one of the rooms that held the baths. She still looked upset, but Ruby didn't have time to worry about that. Her partner was injured and needed help. When she got into the room Weiss was laying in the tub in just her shorts, water up to her neck, and her arm still wrapped across her chest. She looked like she had been crying. Yang kissed Weiss on the top of the head and stood up, turning to her sister.

"I'll go talk to Blake. See if I can calm her down."

Ruby nodded to her as she left and knelt down next to the bath with the box of salt and started to pour it in, swirling the water with her other hand to mix it up.

"This is going to sting a bit, but it will keep the wound clean."

Weiss hissed as the salt got into her wound, but slowly relaxed and closed her eyes. She wanted as much peaceful time as she could get before the inevitable chaos started when she had to confront her teammates over this.

Ruby watched her partner for a few moments in silence before sighing and gently pushing Weiss' bangs out of her face.

"Look, Weiss. I'm not going to force you tell me everything right now, but we can't just ignore this."

She started running her hand through Weiss' hair. It was a calming thing her mother used to do for her, so she figured it would help Weiss too.

"This is going to need to be talked about as a team. The sooner the better."

Weiss nodded while fresh tears leaked from her eyes, just enjoying the comforting gesture from Ruby. Eventually, she opened her eyes and turned her head to look at her leader.

"She is going to hate me all over again. How are you and Yang not mad at me right now?"

Ruby looked Weiss in the eyes while continuing to run her fingers through the white locks.

"I honestly don't know what to feel right now Weiss. I'm not going to bother worrying about any of that until I have more information. Right now, all I care about is that you heal."

Weiss nodded and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the edge of the tub.

"Can it wait until tomorrow? I'm **really** not ready to talk about everything tonight."

Ruby kept rubbing Weiss' hair.

"Yeah, that's fine, but I'm holding you to that."

Weiss simply nodded once more. After a few minutes, her breath hitched as her aura started coming back, slowly healing the damaged tissue. After they healed up minutes later, she gave them a gentle test flex. They were a little tender still, but they didn't feel like they scarred. It should not affect her breathing.

 _'_ _Only one way to really find out.'_

Ruby watched in fascination as Weiss slowly slipped herself under the water, the flaps on her sides flexing open and shut as her chest slowly rose and fell, air bubbles coming out of her nose and drifting to the surface of the water.

_'So, that was how she gave me air that night at the harbor.'_

After about a minute, Ruby rolled her sleeves up to her elbows and reached into the water, tapping Weiss' shoulder to get her attention. Weiss' eyes opened and looked at her and Ruby put her other hand up, alternating between a thumbs up and thumbs down, silently questioning if she was ok. A small, sweet smile rose from Weiss' lips and she gave a thumbs up of her own with her free hand before closing her eyes again and relaxing for a little longer, figuring out how she was going to explain everything to her team.

Ruby sighed in relief and sat down, leaning against the tub. She dried her hand off on a towel and checked her scroll for the time, then sent a message to Yang, even though she was on the other side of the door. It was getting late.

 **[Ruby]** Hey, Weiss is going to be ok. You two head back to the dorm and get some sleep. I'll keep an eye on her and talk to her about this a bit. We will have a team meeting after breakfast tomorrow to discuss everything.

 **[Yang]** ok sis we will see you two there

 **[Ruby]** How is Blake doing?

 **[Yang]** still really pissed but she isn't going to attack Weiss in her sleep or anything

 **[Ruby]** Suppose that is as good as we are gonna get. Night sis.

 **[Yang]** night

\-----

When Yang shut the door behind her, Blake apparently couldn't hold her frustrations in any longer.

"She lied to us! Her family abuses Faunus labor. She badmouthed Faunus since she started here, and she was one all along!"

Blake was fuming and Yang sighed.

"Blake, I'm sure there is an explanation, and we will get one, when she is ready."

Blake began pacing again.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this! She had better have some damn good answers. How can she go around badmouthing her own race like that!? How are you of all people so calm?"

Yang gave Blake a level stare.

"Because the team needs me to be."

That made Blake pause in her pacing and look at her partner.

Yang sighed and then continued.

"Ruby would be panicking right now if she wasn't so focused on what she is doing. She is shoving all her emotions aside and focusing on what she needs to do to take care of her partner."

_'Something that I'm pretty sure she learned from Weiss.'_

"You are so pissed you can't think straight, and trust me, I know how that is from experience, and Weiss is injured and terrified out of her mind, thinking we all hate her. One of us needs to keep their head, and I have the least at stake here, emotionally speaking."

Yang's pocket vibrated for a moment and she pulled out her scroll, seeing a message from Ruby.

 **[Ruby]** Hey, Weiss is going to be ok. You two head back to the dorm and get some sleep. I'll keep an eye on her and talk to her about this a bit. We will have a team meeting after breakfast tomorrow to discuss everything.

Yang started to message her back.

 **[Yang]** ok sis we will see you two there

 **[Ruby]** How is Blake doing?

Yang looked back up at her partner. Blake was visibly calming herself.

 **[Yang]** still really pissed but she isn't going to attack Weiss in her sleep or anything

 **[Ruby]** Suppose that is as good as we are gonna get. Night sis.

 **[Yang]** night

Yang looked up as she put her scroll back in her pocket.

"Ruby says Weiss is going to be ok. We are going to get the full story tomorrow after breakfast. Come on. Let's get back to the dorm and get some sleep."

Blake looked like she wanted to go into the bathroom and get answers now, but eventually turned and followed Yang to the dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I appreciate comments. I like to know what you all think about the story. (They help me sort out future issues with the story that I might not be aware of at the time of writing. I eventually answer questions, even if they are days/weeks later.)


	14. Getting to know you...again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Ruby have a chat. Ruby learns things about her partner she never would have expected.

Ruby sat watching videos on her scroll while waiting for Weiss to relax before asking for at least the minimum amount of information to understand the situation. Occasionally, she would peek her head over the side of the tub to make sure her partner was still breathing.

_'So weird seeing her breathe while underwater.'_

She thought about researching medical stuff about Faunus, but any injury Blake got was handled the same as it would have been for her or Yang, so she figured there wasn't any real difference there, especially since she didn't know exactly how to look up how to treat 'gill damage'. Besides, it seemed like Weiss' aura had healed her up just fine.

After 15 minutes Weiss decided she had hidden from the world long enough and sat back up. The sound of the water shifting caught Ruby's attention and she turned her head to look up at Weiss as the white haired girl turned her head to meet her eyes.

Ruby gave a small smile. "Better?"

Weiss returned the smile. "Better."

"Ready to talk about it?"

Weiss sighed and looked back down at the water as the smile slid from her face.

"No, not really. But, I'm going to have to sooner or later."

"If something this big comes up, come to your teammates first?"

Weiss chuckled hearing Ruby quote her earlier statement to Blake the night they found her at the docks.

"Yeah, I suppose I should follow my own advice, huh?"

Ruby gave her a reassuring smile

"Well, we are going to have a team meeting tomorrow after breakfast and discuss this, so you don't have to worry about going into everything tonight, but...care to give me the highlights?"

Weiss sighed again and looked at Ruby

"Sure."

"So, what kind of Faunus are you?"

Weiss gave her partner a small smile.

_'Well, that was blunt, but at least she is starting off with easy questions.'_

"Shark. An arctic species of some kind to be a little more specific."

Ruby turned around and knelt next to the tub, folding her arms on the edge and setting her chin down on them, putting her head even with Weiss'.

"Ok, that explains the freezing salt water baths. Any other traits besides those?"

Ruby gestured to Weiss' rib cage.

"Gills, which as you've probably figured out by now, lets me breath underwater. I also have these, which keep stuff out of my eyes when I'm underwater."

Weiss flicked her clear lids shut, making her eyes look faded and duller, then flicked them open again.

"So, like built in goggles?"

Weiss chuckled

"Yes Ruby, like built in goggles."

_'She is making this really easy to talk about. I'll have to thank her for this. There is no way this is going to go as smoothly with the other two.'_

Weiss got back on track.

"My night vision isn't any better than what you have, but it does adjust immediately instead of over several minutes like yours would have to, so bright lights won't mess it up, but it is no where near as good as Blake's. My sense of smell is also very sensitive."

Weiss cleared her throat.

"and...uh.... the smell of blood makes me...um...hungry."

Ruby looked a little disturbed by that.

"The smell of blood makes you hungry?"

Weiss gave her a flat look.

"Shark Faunus, Ruby..."

"Oooohhhh...right."

Weiss gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, it's not like I go into a feeding frenzy like a regular shark or anything. I'm not like you when you see a plate of cookies."

"Hey!"

Weiss giggled.

"Anyway, that about sums it up."

The tactical part of Ruby's brain was trying to integrate all of this info into their combat and team roles. She shoved that part to the background.

_'Priorities Ruby. Help teammates now, tactics later.'_

"So, your mom is a Faunus I'm guessing?"

Weiss' expression became serious and a little sad again.

"No, my father is."

Ruby's eyes went wide. She had read a little bit into the Schnee family to get a better understanding of her partner, and the things she found out about Mr. Schnee and the rumors about how Faunus were treated were not exactly flattering.

Weiss seemed to read the expression on Ruby's face and looked away.

"My real dad, not Father. I'm a bastard child. I have no idea who my real father is."

"Wait, then you're not actually a Schnee, but...?"

Ruby gestured to Weiss' ice blue eyes and white hair. Those were not exactly common traits.

Weiss caught on pretty quick.

"The Schnee bloodline comes from my mom's side. Father took the Schnee name when they married."

"Oh... Ok. So, who else knows about this?"

"At home? My mother and one of the butlers. At Beacon? Only Jaune.."

Ruby gave Weiss a VERY confused stare.

Weiss sighed again.

"Remember when I got that drink spilled on my shirt and ran off to the bathroom? I was so upset that I kind of...failed to notice that I went into the wrong one. Jaune walked in on me while I had my shirt pulled up toward the sink to clean the milk out of it and he saw my gills."

Ruby couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Jaune blushing and sputtering in that situation.

"I bet that just made his day."

Weiss huffed and stuck her chin up hauntily.

"For your information, he was actually a perfect gentleman about it...surprisingly. He handled it very well,"

An amused grin came to her face.

"despite his face being as red as your cloak."

Ruby got her giggling under control and Weiss gave her a grin.

"Anyway, I explained how important it was that this information didn't get out, and he promised to keep it a secret. He doesn't know much beyond the fact I'm a Faunus, but as far as I can tell, he hasn't uttered a word to anyone."

"Is that why you agreed to go to the dance with him?"

This question caught Weiss off guard, but it did kind of make sense to the situation.

"No. Well, kind of... "

Weiss pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"You already know how I went out and asked Neptune to the dance, but he turned me down."

Ruby nodded.

"Well, when I was leaving I found a flower laying on the ground around the corner. It had Jaune's scent on it and it was pretty obvious he was giving it one final shot at asking me, but saw me with Neptune. The dance was the next day and Pyrrha obviously hadn't made a move on him, so I figured she had given up, and I was without a date..."

Weiss shrugged her shoulders.

"He hadn't tried to blackmail me into a date like someone in Atlas might have or tried to get anything out of me with the information of what I was. I had no romantic interest in him, but I realized he wasn't after me for my name or money, so I talked to him and we agreed to go as friends."

Weiss had a small smile at the memory.

"I actually had a really nice time. The guy might normally be a klutz, but he can dance really well. Did you know he learned from his sisters? He's got seven of them. Seven! I don't think I could even imagine having that many siblings."

Weiss looked back over at Ruby

"Anyway, we had a nice evening, and he hasn't tried to ask me out since. I suppose he deserves more credit than I give him. Finally found out what Pyrrha sees in him too. If nothing else, maybe he'll notice her now."

Ruby didn't intend to take the conversation so deep into this direction, but she had always kind of wondered how Jaune finally managed to get that date with Weiss after she had shot him down so many times. Many of those times quite coldly. She had been almost disappointed in Weiss, thinking she just gave Jaune a pity date. Turns out she really was giving him an honest chance.

"So, if you had such a nice time, why haven't you gone out with him since?"

Weiss tilted her head sideways while looking thoughtful.

"Honestly? We just didn't 'click'. I'll admit he's not a complete buffoon, at least when he is actually being himself, and I think we can be good friends someday, but romance just wasn't on the table. I think he finally realized that too. I'm just glad that I haven't had to turn him down again. I'd...actually feel bad about it now.  I was actually going to talk to him about it after we got back from our mission, but then the White Fang, and the Breach happened, and then we were recovering, and....well, we just never got around to it."

Ruby decided to get away from the subject of dating before she started thinking about her own non existent love life, and thought up a good way to change the subject to something else she was interested in that Weiss mentioned.

"Hey, you said you smelled Jaune's scent on the flower that night. You can recognize someone just by smell?"

Weiss rocked her head side to side a couple times.

"Kind of. It takes me a while to figure someone out, and I can't track someone like a dog or anything."

Weiss looked at the ceiling for a moment, thinking.

"Well, maybe underwater I could. Scent travels further than you might think in the water. Blood does anyway, but I might just be biologically predisposed to that smell, so I pick it up easier."

Weiss shook her head.

"Anyway, everyone kind of has their own natural smell. After spending so much time around our team and JNPR, I can usually recognize someone from one of our teams based on that."

This had Ruby's interest.

"So, what do we all smell like?"

As Weiss looked at her, she watch as Ruby got a strange look on her face.

"Ok, that sounded less weird in my head..."

Weiss smiled.

"I'm sure it did. Anyway, Jaune smells like...nerves...or..unease? It's hard to describe. There is not really anything to compare it to. It's more like that is what I think of when I smell it. Like how certain smells just..remind you of something. Take a whiff of his hoodie right after combat class, before the sweat starts to smell. That is what he smells like all the time to me."

Finding a way to ask Jaune to let her smell his hoodie after he was just done sweating in it was not a conversation Ruby wanted to think about.

"I'll just take your word for it."

Weiss grinned.

"Fair enough. Well, Pyrrha smells like metal. Like copper and iron. She always catches my attention easiest on that team."

Ruby gave Weiss a confused look. "Why is that?"

"Well, have you ever accidentally bitten your tongue? What do you taste?"

Ruby thought about that for a second.

"Well, blood obviously...it's kind of a metallic, coppery flavor...oh, Phyrra's scent reminds you of blood. That must be weird."

Weiss shrugged.

"Sometimes. They have a similar scent, but it's not exactly the same. Nora smells like burnt ozone. Not exactly a pleasant scent. That is why I try to sit as far from her at the table as possible."

"What about Ren?"

Weiss had to really think about that one. "Ren doesn't...really have a smell. Not one that I can really place anyway. It's kind of like Jaune. If..calm..could be a smell, that is Ren. Most of the time, I just go by the smell of his shampoo."

Ruby laughed.

"I bet it's the same way with Yang."

Weiss smiled.

"You'd think so, but she actually smells like wood smoke. Reminds me of the fireplace in the den at home. Blake smells like ink and old paper. Probably from all her books. The two of them together remind me of the study in the manor."

"What about me?"

_'I'm really curious what I smell like... Nope...still sounds weird, even in my head.'_

Weiss grinned at her.

"Oh, that one is easy. Roses and strawberries. It is a very pleasant combination."

Ruby felt her cheeks get warm at that.

"Well...uh..um...thank you. I think..."

_'Oh, sure. She praises me for improving at pool, nothing. I get her approval from getting a good grade on a test, nothing. She said I looked pretty when she helped me get ready for the dance, still nothing. Heck, I've been in here for an hour with her being practically naked, and no issue, but her saying I smell good is what gets me flustered!? I am such a weirdo.'_

Weiss noticed the coloring of Ruby's cheeks and internally giggled. _'She is such a dork.'_  

Looking at her watch she sighed again.

"It is really late. I suppose we should get back to the dorm and get some sleep."

Ruby stood up and stretched, then handed Weiss a towel before walking to the door.

"I brought a spare shirt for you. I'll wait outside while you get dressed, ok?"

"Ruby..."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not hating me for hiding this."

Ruby looked over her shoulder at Weiss and smiled.

"It's ok. I learned a little bit about your family after we met. I think I understand why you would want to hide this. If it makes you feel any better, I think all that Faunus stuff is actually really cool."

Weiss looked down at her gills after closing them flat.

"Even these?"

Ruby grinned.

"Especially those."

She opened the door and walked out, poking her head back in for a moment before closing it, smiling.

"I probably wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for those, so they are extra cool. See you in a few minutes, ok?"

After Ruby left the room, Weiss got out of the tub and peeled off the rest of her wet clothes and got herself dried off. As she was getting dressed she noticed that nobody had brought her spare underwear or shorts. As she grimaced and was contemplating putting wet shorts back on for a very uncomfortable walk back to the dorms, she noticed that Ruby's cloak was still on the hook on the door where Yang had hung it. She walked over and wrapped it around her shoulders. It smelled like roses and strawberries and made Weiss smile.

_'That dolt is such a good partner.'_

As long as she kept it closed, it would be sufficient to protect her modesty should an unfortunate wind kick up. She rolled her wet clothing up in the bloody tatters of her old shirt and tucked the bundle and her box of sea salt inside the cloak. She then wrapped it tightly around herself before leaving the bathroom.

Ruby was waiting for her outside the door looking at her scroll. She actually looked a little weird in her combat outfit without her cloak.

"Thank you for letting me borrow this. I was a little nervous about walking back to the dorm...commando..."

Ruby snorted trying to hold back her laughter at the term Weiss used.

"It's no trouble. After I got back, I realized I didn't bring any replacements, but I didn't want to leave you by yourself. Not to mention I didn't think you'd like me going through your underwear drawer."

Weiss flushed in embarrassment at the thought of anyone going through her underwear drawer. That would be mortifying.

"Well, thank you for being so considerate. It is appreciated."

Ruby waved her off.

"Don't worry about it. I would be too embarrassed to do it even if you had asked me to."

Both girls giggled at that, and the rest of the journey was comfortably silent. Once they returned to the dorm room they both quietly got ready for bed. Blake and Yang were already asleep so they simply mouthed 'good night' to each other and got in their beds. Ruby fell asleep almost immediately, but Weiss was worried. She looked up at Yang's bed, thinking about how she was going to explain everything in the morning. Looking down at Blake's bunk, her worried expression turned to one of wide eyed terror as she saw Blake's narrowed eyes looking back at her.

Weiss was quietly panicking.

_'How long has she been watching me!?'_

Blake just stared at her a few moments longer before closing her eyes and rolling over toward the wall. Weiss gulped and laid there shaking for a few minutes before she inhaled deeply through her nose, pulling in the calming scents of her teammates. Even if she was terrified of Blake at the moment, the memories her scent brought to her mind were enough to calm her down. She eventually fell asleep to the thoughts of the study back at the mansion, with it's shelves full of books, the crackling fireplace, and a vase full of roses on the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we finally get some explanation for how Weiss is a Faunus in a human family. We will learn more as the story goes on.
> 
> Also, I figured this is the best place to put this down, but Weiss is based off of the Pacific Sleeper Shark. It is a species based up in freezing temperatures, and fit well for Weiss living in Atlas.
> 
> As always, comments are appreciated.


	15. Complications in Communication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her secret is out. She is scared. Blake is pissed. Ruby is supportive. What is Yang thinking? Weiss can't stall the inevitable much longer. Can the team hold together?

The next morning Weiss woke up early, despite getting to sleep so late. She was anxious about what was going to happen and she didn't want to be in the dorm when the others woke up. She wasn't running like Blake had, but she still wanted to have a few more minutes to get her head in order before she had to face them. She knew she was stalling, but she was too worried to care. She left a note on her bed that she went to breakfast and would see them there. She was certain the first thing they would do when they woke up was look at her bed, so the note wouldn't be missed.

Ruby and Yang seemed mostly understanding with the discovery, although now that she was physically ok, Ruby would have time to think on her deception more, and might have some uncomfortable questions for Weiss. Yang she wasn't sure about either, but her chances were good that she could work things out with the sisters. Then, there was Blake, and Blake terrified Weiss right now. The look of betrayal and anger the cat Faunus gave Weiss when her secret was discovered chilled her to the bone. It was as she feared and all the progress she made with Blake seemed to be gone in that instant.

When Weiss got to the cafeteria, she saw Pyrrha and Nora sitting down for breakfast and joined them. Pyrrha was the first to greet her, as Nora had a mouthful of pancakes. "Good morning Weiss."

"Good morning Pyrrha." Weiss tried to act like everything was ok, but she could tell from the concerned look on Pyrrha's face that her mask had some cracks in it.

"Is everything ok?"

"Y-yes. Just didn't sleep very well." _'Damn! Why did I have to stutter?'_

Pyrrha seemed to accept that answer and went back to her meal. "So, Yang told me that you guys were going to be sparring yesterday for the tournament How did training go?"

Weiss looked up at her. "Could have gone better, but I think our chances in the tournament are still good." _'Could have gone SO much better. Such as my teammates NOT finding out my secret.'_

As other students started to file into the room, Weiss could swear she felt eyes boring into her. Glancing over her shoulder toward the door, she saw the rest of her team walking in with Jaune and Ren. She didn't bother making eye contact with anyone. She was sure her team saw her there, and she was also pretty sure she knew where the feeling of being starred at was coming from.

As the others sat down at the table, Jaune sat on one side of her, across from Pyrrha, while Ruby took the other side. Blake and Yang sat across from them and Ren took a seat next to Nora. Weiss was comforted by having two people that knew her secret and weren't mad at her for it surrounding her.

_'Well, I think Ruby is ok with it. She is being nice right now, and she is a bad liar, so I don't think she is faking it.'_

Weiss did nod to Jaune with a polite "Good morning."

He nodded back with a small smile. "Morning Weiss." He then started going over team plans for the day with Pyrrha. The fact that he was concentrating on Pyrrha more and the smile on her face made Weiss happy.

_'Maybe he finally figured it out. Good for Pyrrha.'_

Eventually Weiss got the courage to look up across from her. Blake was reading a book while eating as usual, but she looked up and met Weiss' eyes and it was the same glare she was giving Weiss the night before. Yang noticed and elbowed Blake in the side, mouthing 'later' to the cat Faunus before continuing to eat. Blake mostly ignored Weiss after that, but Weiss wasn't feeling very hungry anymore. Her stomach was in knots right now and she wasn't sure she could hold the mask much longer.

As Weiss got up, Ruby gave her a look of concern and Weiss knew she needed to say something to keep unwanted questions from being asked. "I've got some things to go over. I'll meet you guys back at the dorm, ok?"

Ruby nodded. "Ok, we will be back in about thirty minutes."

Weiss mouthed a quick "Thank you." to her team leader, knowing Ruby would keep the rest of the team there to give Weiss that thirty minute window to get herself in order, but despite going over things in her head, she still felt completely unprepared for what was about to happen. She hated being unprepared.

When the team returned to the dorm, they found Weiss sitting on her bed, knees to her chest with arms wrapped around them, and her head laying on top of her knees.

_'They're back. God, where do I even start? Let them ask questions? Should I just start throwing information out? Blake is so mad. It is just like how I was when she got discovered. God, which one of us is the hypocrite in this situation?'_

Ruby looked at her and sighed. "Weiss..."

Blake apparently had enough and interrupted. "Ok, Weiss. You've stalled long enough. Explanation, now."

Weiss flinched at the tone.

_'It is almost like having a second angry Yang right now... or Father yelling at me.'_

Unfortunately, thoughts of her father brought out her old defense mechanism of cold detachment. It was not a state of being she enjoyed, and it was something she had been happily getting away from since coming to Beacon, but it was also a state of mind that she was practiced in and comfortable with, and it was too tempting to not let herself slide into it for a conversation she was so uncomfortable with.  
So, she looked up and uncurled herself, sitting up prim and proper on her bed and after taking a calming breath, looked up at Blake with the ice mask she wore to keep herself safe. The change was so sudden from how frightened she was, even Yang gave her an odd look. She supposed it would look weird to an outsider.

"What do you want me to say, Blake? I'm a Faunus. Father is not my real dad. My mom cheated on him. No, I don't know who my real dad is. A shark Faunus I assume since my mother is human. No, I had no intention of ever telling any of you."

Blake stared at Weiss. The heiress didn't even seem to care. She sat there stone faced and listed things off with almost clinical precision.

_'_ _She acted all scared yesterday, but now she is just sitting there like this is nothing. Was she just pretending in order to get Ruby and Yang on her side? She's a Faunus, but didn't try to stop her father from treating the Faunus like he does. She actually defended the company. Did she even mean any of that stuff about making things right? Has this whole trying to change thing been one big act?!'_

Weiss' 'explanation' did not appease Blake one bit. In fact, it made her even angrier. Yang was about to ask some questions of her own, but Blake snapped.

Blake was furious. "You hypocrite! Always being suspicious of any Faunus you meet, and the whole time you are a Faunus yourself! Not doing anything to stop how the SDC treats Faunus. You've basically been taking advantage of their suffering your whole life. Acting like the Faunus all want you dead! How can you be so cold to your own race!? Did you even mean any of that stuff about trying to change!?"

Weiss shot up off her bed and glared back at Blake so harshly that Ruby stepped back away from the two, looking very concerned and a little scared. The ice mask was gone and replaced with pure fury. Even with all the yelling she had endured from an angry Weiss in the past, she had never seen Weiss look **that** upset.

"REALLY Blake!? Tell me something. Do you think the White Fang would care in the slightest if I'm a Faunus? I'm still a Schnee and they hate my family. You think that would save my head?"

Weiss angrily pointed out the window at nothing in particular.

"When we were on that train and I fought that White Fang Brute, do you know what the first thing he said to me was? He said 'Finally, I get to kill a Schnee.' You think that if I showed my gills off to him, he'd suddenly change his mind? You think that if people found out what I am, suddenly Faunus will stop hating my family? That it is going to make things better for those working for the company? You think I would still be the heiress if that news got out? If HE found out?"

Weiss got right up in Blake's face, staring up into her eyes, quiet venom dripping from her words.

"If that news got out, the board of directors would get rid of me before the ink even dried on the transfer forms naming me CEO. That is if it even got **that** far. Things would keep going the way they were, and I'd STILL have the White Fang trying to take my head!"

Weiss turned around and stalked over to the door, right before she opened it she looked back at Blake, anger clear in her voice.

"Telling people what I am would not help the Faunus.  People knowing what I am won't save me from the Fang. I'd just be labeled a traitor to the Faunus. JUST LIKE YOU!"

She yanked the door open and it slammed shut behind her as she stalked away, leaving the room in silence while the other three teammates stood there unable to speak.

Blake stood there wide eyed and mouth slightly open in shock, trying to process what just happened. She realized that she went and assumed the worse case scenario about Weiss...again.

_'Dammit! I was being a hypocrite even as I called her one.'_

After about a minute, she finally muttered to herself and started toward the door. "I should go find her."

As she started for the door a hand firmly gripped her arm. She looked back to see Ruby staring at her with her 'leader face', shaking her head. "Let her cool off for a bit. You too. We will talk to her when she gets back."

Ruby let go of her arm.

"And whatever you tell her, it had better include an apology."

The tone in her voice left no room for argument as she went back to her desk and sat down with a huff, attempting to get back to her assignment so Weiss wouldn't have something else to be mad about when she returned.  Anything to make Weiss happy was worth doing if they were going to have to try this again to get everyone on the same page. A happy Weiss was a Weiss that was much easier to handle and talk to, and Ruby knew that her doing a good job on her homework made Weiss happy. She sent a quick message to Weiss on her scroll and got back to work.

There was a hesitant knock on the door a few seconds later. Yang hopped off her bed and went to see who it was. When she opened the door, Jaune was standing there looking worried. Yang could see the rest of JNPR peeking through the door across the hall at them.

"Hey Yang, um...we heard some yelling and a door slam. Is...um..everything ok?"

Yang looked behind her at Blake still standing in the center of the room and then turned back to Jaune.  "Weiss and Blake got into it again. So, no, things are not ok, but hopefully they will be once Weiss gets back."

Pyrrha spoke up from their door. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Yang sighed and looked over Jaune's shoulder to meet Pyrrha's eyes. "No, this is something we need to solve in house."

Jaune looked back over his shoulder at Pyrrha, then back to Yang. "Ok, if there is anything we can do to help, don't hesitate to ask."

Yang put a hand on Jaune's shoulder and gave a small grateful smile. "Thanks for the offer. It's appreciated."

Jaune nodded and went back to JNPR's dorm, looking one last time at Yang. "Cya guys in class tomorrow."

Yang gave a thumbs up and closed the door, going back to her bunk.

Blake just walked to her bed and sat down, elbows on her knees, staring at the floor, wondering how she was going to make this right. Suddenly, something Weiss said came back to her. _'If HE found out?... Wait! Could Weiss' father not know she is a Faunus!?'_


	16. A Much Needed Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fractured team. Weiss and Blake's friendship is in trouble again. An understanding needs to be reached.

Weiss was stalking down the hall, teeth clenched in anger. She couldn't even put up her normal ice mask right now. She also had no idea where she was going. She just felt that she had to get away from her team until she regained control of her emotions. _'Dammit Blake! You of all people should understand why I'm hiding this!'_

Luckily, she didn't run into any other students in the hallway. She was pretty sure the look on her face could kill right now. The walking helped though and she managed to get her emotions in order enough to at least start thinking.

_'I need advice, but who can I talk to? Jaune maybe? No, I don't need to get him involved further in this. That would just make it harder for him to keep a secret. I wish Ruby had come after me. She has been taking this whole thing the best so far. She probably figures she would just make things worse. I'd even take Yang right now. Ugh! Ok, just stop and breath. Let's look at this logically...'_

Her train of thought was disrupted by a calm, familiar voice. "That is a look I have not seen on your face in quite some time Miss Schnee. Something troubling you?"

Weiss quickly looked up and schooled her face as best she could. "Professor Ozpin! I...I was..."

Weiss sighed in defeat. "Just a disagreement with one of my teammates sir."

Weiss' scroll buzzed in her pocket.

Professor Ozpin hummed and took a sip from his mug. "Your team has come a long way with learning to cooperate since your start here. No matter how well a team works together, there will always be disagreements. It is in how the team handles said disagreements that determines how well a team will continue to work together. So, how is your team handling this particular disagreement?"

Weiss looked away. "Poorly, to be honest sir. Well, Blake and I are handling it poorly. We both just need to get our tempers under control."

Ozpin placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, Miss Schnee, it seems that you are attempting to do just that. If either you or Miss Belladonna need assistance, do not hesitate to ask. Your professors can help with more than just the subjects they teach. Do not be afraid to seek them out if you need help."

"Thank you Professor."

As Ozpin started walking away, Weiss suddenly turned and called after him. "Sir?"

Ozpin turned and looked at her.

Weiss took a few seconds to choose her words carefully. "If your team discovered something about you that you didn't want anyone to know, how would you go about explaining it to them?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at the question as he sipped from his mug. He had witnessed that kind of situation more than once. He had **lived** it more than once. Immortality had it's drawbacks. "If they have already discovered whatever it was that you didn't want known, I would suggest simply being honest with them. You gain nothing from being untruthful. This does not mean you have to tell them everything, but do give them enough to understand your reasons for hiding whatever it is that you chose to hide."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes slightly in concern.

"If I may inquire, Miss Schnee. Is this hidden thing going to be an issue for your team or the school?  While I respect your privacy, I do have to look out for the best interest of the school as a whole."

Weiss waved her hands in front of her. "Oh, no Professor! This is no problem for the school. I promise. It won't be a problem for the team either, I assure you."

Ozpin nodded. "I will take your word on this for now Miss Schnee. Now, if you believe you have calmed yourself sufficiently, I would suggest returning to your team and resolving this issue as soon as possible. If you are to compete in the Vytal Festival, your team cannot afford to be at odds with each other."

"Yes Professor. I will do that. Thank you."

Ozpin nodded one last time as he walked off. "Good day, Miss Schnee."

As Ozpin rounded the corner, Weiss sighed and made her way back to the dorms. _'Ok, Weiss. Keep your head this time. Blake isn't Father. She is your friend. Remain calm and hopefully she will too. Give them something to make them understand.'_

Weiss walked back to her dorm. As she got to the door and pulled out her scroll to open the lock, she noticed a message from Ruby.

**[Ruby] Take all the time you need and come back when you are ready. We will be here. Oh, and I think I'm just about done with that essay for Oobleck's class. I think Yang got her's done already.**

Weiss smiled.

_'Of course she'd try to cheer me up by doing her homework. Ok...You can do this.'_

After standing outside for a few moments to steady herself, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then calmly opened the door and went in. As she closed the door behind her, she heard Blake quickly standing. "Weiss. I...I'm sorry for yelling..."

Weiss interrupted her with a raised hand. Eyes still closed, she quietly sat down on her bed and took one last deep breath. "Blake, why do you wear your bow?"

Blake looked confused at the question, but decided to answer. "I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am."

Weiss nodded, still not opening her eyes. "How long have you worn it?"

"A..few weeks before I started Beacon. Right after I left the White Fang."

Weiss opened her eyes and looked at Blake. "You wear it to protect yourself from discrimination." It was not a question, just stating a fact.

Blake nodded.

Weiss took another deep breath. "Blake, what you have done for a few months, I've been doing for seventeen years. Protecting myself. Protecting my family name. I can't change the course of the company if I am not in control of it, and a Faunus will never control the company if the board or Father has anything to say about it."

Yang spoke up. "Wait, if your dad will never let a Faunus run the company, why are you the heiress?"

Weiss turned her head to look at the brawler. "Father does not know I'm a Faunus."

"WHAT!?" The loud yell from Yang had the others flinching.

Blake was the first to recover. She already had this question in mind. "Weiss, how can your father not know you aren't human? How can any parent NOT know that about their child?"

_'Oh Geez....how do I explain this?'_

Weiss' eyes darted around as she looked at the floor, trying to get her thoughts into words.

"Blake...with Father...the company comes first...always. The Schnee family  **is** the company, in his mind. When I was born, Winter was the heir. I was...not important. He had company business to attend to. He was not there when I was born. I was raised by tutors and servants. Quite frankly, my butler is closer to me than my own father. Other than you three, there is literally only four other people in the world that know my secret. Maybe five if my biological father even knows I'm his."

Yang spoke up. "Who knows, if not your dad?"

"Me, obviously, my butler, who basically raised me, my mother...if she even remembers...and...Jaune."

"Why wouldn't your mom remember?" Blake asked

"How does Vomit Boy know?" Yang asked at the same time.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Blake "Jaune found out by accident when Blake's 'boyfriend' spilled Ruby's milk on me a few weeks back."

Blake sheepishly looked away.

"He's not my boyfriend..."

Yang hung upside down off her bed to look at Blake with a grin. "Why not? He's hot, and fun. Hell, he's basically the male version of me. How can you **not** like that?"

Blake groaned. "Yang, if you like him so much, why don't **you** ask him out?"

Yang gasped in mock hurt, putting her hand to her chest. "And take monkey boy away from you? I would never. That would be like asking you out. I couldn't do that to him. I wouldn't get in between my best friends. Besides, he flirts with you, not me."

Blake looked embarrassed. "He doesn't flirt **that** much."

Weiss rolled her eyes "Oh please. He is even more obvious than me and Neptune."

Blake gave her a deadpan look. "And yet you two still aren't together."

"That just proves my point."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Fine, he has a big crush on me, and **maybe** I'm interested. Now, about your mom...?" Blake tried to steer the conversation away from her and Sun.

Weiss sighed and looked down at the floor, shaking her head. "My mother isn't relevant right now, and **that** is a subject I'm not ready to delve into anytime soon. The point is, if Father found out I'm not his, my inheritance is gone. He might even disown me. My plan ever since I learned I could fight, was to become a huntress and protect people like my grandfather. To carry on **his** legacy. Then when I eventually took over the company, I would have the people's trust, and I could actually accomplish something. People finding out I'm a Faunus before the time is right could ruin all of that. That is why I fought so hard to keep this a secret."

She looked up at her teammates "No matter how much I trust you three, this was something too important to let out. My future could literally be over if the wrong people found out. I trust you with my life, but I couldn't risk trusting you with this."

Ruby placed a hand on her partner's shoulder. "Weiss, no matter what happens, you still have us. You don't have to handle this alone."

Weiss gave her leader a thankful smile while Yang piped up.

"Yeah! We can handle this, even if things get...fishy."

Weiss shot Yang a glare. "First, I'd reprimand you on that horrible pun...if you weren't scientifically accurate, for once. Secondly, you literally can **never** make shark puns around me...ever."

Yang gave her a pout. "Awe, why not?"

Ruby looked at her. "Yang, you make cat puns at Blake, but people make those jokes to humans all the time, so that isn't very suspicious, and you've done it even before we found out she was a Faunus. If you start suddenly making fish puns about Weiss, people are going to start asking questions, and those can't be played off. This is serious."

Blake chipped in too. "Plus, you saw how Weiss froze up at the bar when you called her a 'pool shark'. She can't brush this stuff off as easily as I can."

Weiss sighed, remembering that slip up that she barely played off. "Blake is right. When not directed at me, I can ignore stuff like that, but not when I'm the subject of it."

Blake suddenly had another question, and she did her best to not let any anger into her voice when she asked it. Based on Weiss' cringe at her tone, she was only partially successful. "Weiss, speaking of that. Why do you let stuff like that happen? Why did you speak so badly of the Faunus, even if they weren't White Fang?"

Weiss took another deep breath to remain calm. She could tell Blake was trying to keep civil about this. "Blake, like I said earlier. You have been hiding for a few months. I've been doing it all my life. When you wear a mask for that long...it stops being a mask. It just becomes who you are. "

That statement brought old memories flashing back to Blake's mind. It reminded her of what she told Sun about the White Fang. _'Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters.'_ The thought of how Adam hadn't seemed to remove his mask in front of anyone in years made Weiss' statement even more real. She wasn't sure she even remembered what he looked like without it anymore.

Weiss continued, unaware of Blake's inner turmoil. "I play the part to survive. Even if I **was** human...the way I was raised....let's just say you become a product of your environment. Beacon is no different. I've changed since coming here. I like to think it's been for the better."

Ruby turned and gave Weiss a hug. "You are doing great Weiss. We actually have fun with each other now, and you are so much nicer to everyone. That never would have happened when we started here."

Weiss tensed up at the contact. "Ruby! Not so hard. Gills are still tender."

Ruby immediately let go and held her hands up. "Sorry Weiss!"

Weiss relaxed. "It's ok...just...still a little sore."

Yang spoke up again. "So, what **do**  you know about your biological father?"

Weiss sighed. "Other than he is a shark Faunus and my mother slept with him eighteen years ago? Nothing. I never asked her for details."

Ruby looked confused. "If you don't know anything about him, how do you know he is a shark Faunus?"

Blake spoke up. "Biology. If a human and Faunus have a child, they are the same type as the parent. Two Faunus of the same type will have a child the same as them. If you mix two different types of Faunus, the child could end up being any kind. Since Weiss' mom is human, the father would have to be a shark Faunus for her to be one."

Weiss looked at Ruby. "Exactly. He is not relevant though. I don't have a name, or a picture, or anything really, so who or where he is or if he is even alive is a moot point. I barely get along with the family I know."

Weiss looked back at Blake. "The overall point is this. You hid to survive. So have I. I knew you were going to freak out if you ever found out. I know I was being a hypocrite when I kept hiding. I had...some...self hate issues I had to work through too, and being on this team has helped with that, but I grew up around rampant racism and class-ism, and that has an effect on you. I'm away from that now, and I am getting better, but that change is not going to happen overnight."

Weiss gave an exhausted sigh. This conversation was draining. "That is why I hid Blake. I might be hated by Faunus because of my name, but it is that or hated by both sides. Faunus will not immediately accept me just by finding out I'm also a Faunus, but there are humans that **will** immediately hate me if they found out. There is no 'side' that I can truly be on. I mean, I can't imagine most Faunus wouldn't have the exact same reaction you did."

Ruby perked up. "You are on our side Weiss, and we are on yours. The Grimm don't care if you are human or Faunus. They are the enemies of everyone and we are here to protect people from them!" Ruby's excitement was out of no where, but Weiss could see the point she was trying to make.

Weiss shook her head and smiled at Ruby, then looked to Blake. "So, what do you say Blake? A couple Faunus pretending to be human working together with a couple hyperactive sisters to save everyone from the Grimm?"

"Hey!" came the reply from the sisters.

Blake rolled her eyes. "Ok, ok, I see your point. And...I'm sorry I freaked out on you. I was being a jerk too. I have some trust issues since I left the White Fang. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Weiss smiled.

"I forgive you if you can forgive me. I know that I talked about trust, and I know continuing to hide was a betrayal. I promise not to keep things from you guys anymore."

Ruby flung herself onto Weiss again, this time at least grabbing her around the shoulders to not hurt her gills. "Yea! Team RWBY is back together...again!"

Weiss just rolled her eyes and smiled. "Dolt."

Just as everything calmed down, Yang had a thought. "Hey, since Jaune knows, should we tell the rest of JNPR?"

Three calls of 'Not Nora!' rang out at once in reply.


	17. Round One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tournament begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note here. I know this Volume is full of battles, but as they are all canon fights, I will only be detailing the ones Weiss actually participates in. We will be using the other fights to explore Team RWBY's observations of said fights and get some more story elements in play. Those of you that love the battles don't need to worry though. There will be still be fights a plenty and the ones Team RWBY watches will get some commentary. (That Penny and Ciel vs CRDL fight comes to mind.) I think I've managed a good balance between fights and story elements. We are even going to start this one off with a longer than normal chapter. Enjoy Volume 3 of A Shark Dressed In White.

Over the next few days, a few things changed for Team RWBY. Now that her secret was out, Weiss no longer felt the need to hide in the bathroom to change her clothes. That lasted for about three days. Weiss realized that she still felt self conscious about her gills showing around her team. Yang's comment about her 'cute little tush' on the third day certainly didn't help her feel less embarrassed. Apparently not making jokes about her appearance was reserved for just the night she was injured.

After a reprimand from Ruby followed by an apology from Yang with an explanation of 'Yang logic', which was basically to distract Weiss from her insecurity about her gills with some good natured teasing, Weiss decided she was better off just keeping things as they used to be. She appreciated the thought on Yang's part, but the method not so much. It just made things easier on everyone if she kept her previous routine.

  
\-----

The Vytal tournament was finally here and it was their turn to show the world what they could do.

"You girls ready?" Yang asked with a grin.

Ruby was excited. "Let's kick butt!"

Weiss grinned as the battlefield rose around them. Both sides came up with dust embedded terrain.

Blake smirked at Weiss. This definitely played to both of their strengths.

As the buzzer sounded, Yang immediately went for the hand to hand specialist on the other team: Aslan.

Reese, a girl on a hoverboard, flew at Blake as she retreated for the ice field.

Ruby deflected shots from their gunner, Nadir, and charged at him while Weiss sent a weak aura slash against the final member of their team, a staff wielder named Bolin, causing him to dodge behind some rocks on the ice field. Weiss had been practicing that technique and even though it only took a small bit of her aura to use it, it was still more than her semblance. However, he looked skilled and she needed to make sure she kept him at a distance until she had some backup.

Weiss looked over to see Yang get knocked to the ground in the ice field and Ruby shooting the Ice crystal next to Nadir, knocking the gun from his hands and locking him in ice.

Ruby pulled her eye from her scope with a grin. "Got your back!"

That was when Bolin came up behind Ruby with a grin. "Who's got yours?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes as she ran toward the two.

_'Did he forget about me already? This team needs to work on working together instead of going one on one.'_

Weiss summoned a gravity glyph next to Bolin and as he looked at it in surprise, she jumped and slammed a kick into his gut, letting the glyph throw him into a rock in the fire field.

Weiss turned her head to look at her leader with a smile.

_'I always have my partner's back.'_

The smile dissipated when Ruby looked at her enthusiastically. "My BFF!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and gave Ruby a deadpan look. "No."

Her mouth quirked into a tiny grin when she heard Ruby exclaim "Yessss." behind her. With Ruby's opponent locked down, they could concentrate on her's.

As Bolin was standing Weiss summoned another glyph in front of him, flying through with a powerful strike. Unfortunately, he parried her follow up attack as she flipped off of another glyph over his head. Her previous assessment was correct. He was pretty strong.

She heard Ruby yell out behind her. "Red Saw!"

Weiss summoned a glyph behind her while staring down Bolin and watched as Ruby leapt off the glyph and spun through the air like a buzzsaw, coming down on the staff wielder.

He managed to block Ruby's attack as the ground cratered around them, but wasn't counting on her gun as she fired and threw him back again. Weiss kept her weapon trained on him while Ruby glanced behind them.

_'At least she is remembering to watch her back now.'_

As he came charging in, Weiss summoned multiple ice spears that slammed into the ground as he rolled past. He didn't attack her though and as she turned to help Ruby, she saw that Bolin had dodged her attack too and kept going. Ruby looked thoroughly confused. "Whaaat?"

That was when Bolin broke off a piece of fire dust crystal and threw it to Reese, who used it on her hoverboard. She then went and melted the ice holding Nadir in place and went after Blake again.

As Bolin ran at her again, she summoned another gravity glyph in his way and launched him back and into Nadir, who just got ready to shoot at Ruby. Weiss almost pitied the guy's bad luck, but now she was going to show them not to mess with Team RWBY.

Summoning another glyph using gravity and wind dust, she leapt and slammed her sword into the ground on the ice field, spinning the two opponents around and slamming them into each other. Gritting her teeth at the strain, she pushed more of her aura into the ice dust filling the field. The two boys were VERY surprised when a giant hand of ice clamped down around them into a ball and started rolling for the edge of the arena.

Weiss took a breath and got back to her feet as Arslan came skidding to a stop in the way of the ice boulder and set her stance, just as Weiss hoped she would. She wasn't Team RWBY's secondary tactician for nothing. As the ice shattered, Weiss called out to Yang. The field had just what she needed.

As Yang looked at her, she swung her sword in a large arc, pulling dust from the ground with her semblance, making a curved wave of ice. "NOW!"

Yang wasn't completely sure what Weiss had in mind, but she knew what to do with an ice formation like that and started propelling herself along the surface with her gauntlets.

Ruby and Weiss had discussed a maneuver similar to this before, so she knew what Weiss had planned and yelled over at Blake. "Bumblebee!"

Ruby ran toward the end of the ramp as Yang grabbed the other end of Gambol Shroud and Blake spun her faster. "Shadow Rocket!"

Ruby pointed Crescent Rose behind her as she knelt down and Blake jumped onto her shoulders. With a push of her legs and a blast from her scythe, Ruby sent Blake flying past Yang and as they got within range, Blake pulled with all of her strength, propelling Yang even faster. Team ABRN never knew what hit them and the last thing any of them saw was Yang's roaring face as her fist knocked all three of them halfway across the arena.

As the buzzer sounded and Port announced them as the winners, Weiss looked around in disbelief as Ruby ran up next to her. "We did it?"

_'I can't believe that actually worked...'_

As they looked over and Yang gave a fist pump and Blake nodded at them, Ruby got a huge smile on her face and leapt into the air. "WE DID IIIIIIIIIITTTTT!!"

After the match Team RWBY was walking through the fairgrounds as Ruby was excidedly retelling the match they had just left.

"And then Weiss made that HUGE ice wall, and Yang was all 'pow pow pow!' and Blake was all 'pwshooo' and Yang was all 'AHHH YANG SMASH!' and they all went flying and I CAN'T BELIEVE WE DID ITTTTT--"

As Ruby finally came back down from a repeat of her jump in the arena, it looked like all of her energy left with it.

"ITTTT--is anyone else starving?"

Blake grinned at their leader while stretching. "I may have worked up an appetite."

The Ursa sized growl coming from her stomach surprised all of them, Blake looking quite embarrassed.

Yang spoke up with a smile. "Come on. I know the perfect place."

As the group followed Yang, Weiss heard her scroll ring. As she pulled it out of her belt pouch, she saw her Father calling. She scowled at the offending object and closed it before catching up to her team.

_'No. I'm having a good day. I don't want it ruined by having to listen to him complain about some perceived slight on the Schnee name or have him lecture me about something stupid that I don't need right now. The man needs to just leave me alone.'_

Yang brought them to a noodle restaurant for lunch. Weiss found herself surprised when her credit card was declined.

"I was barely into this months allowance." She mumbled quietly to herself.

Luckily team JNPR joined them and Pyrrha offered to buy. Blake was more than happy to accept. She was literally drooling at the fish in her noodles. Weiss regretted not knowing the place had fish. Plain noodles would just have to do.

After the meal, Weiss was quite thoroughly stuffed. As the two teams sat there talking about the tournament, Weiss noticed Pyrrha looking at Jaune fondly. Jaune, for his part, had his head on the counter. Apparently the meal was a bit too much for him. Weiss caught Pyrrha's eye and discreetly pointed her finger back and forth between her and Jaune, raising an eyebrow in question.

Pyrrha caught on to the obvious question. 'Are you two together?' 

She tilted her head to the side and rocked her hand back and forth in a 'kinda' motion.

Weiss smiled and gave her a thumbs up, which unfortunately, Yang saw. "What are you two being all sneaky about?"

"Nothing!" Both the heiress and spartan yelped at the same time.

Jaune looked up and back and forth between the two. Luckily, Ruby got the conversation rolling again. "So, you think you guys are ready?"

After a little good natured teasing toward Jaune from Nora, she went into a worst case scenario rant about what would happen if they lost for about a minute before finally running out of breath and proceeding to dramatically cry on the counter.

"Sooo yeah. We're feeling pret-ty good." Ren said with uncharacteristic sarcasm.

Pyrrha was quick to cheer everyone up, stating that it would be nice to have a fight with rules instead of what they have been up against. Blake was quick to list a few of those things off.

"Let's see: Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath..."

"And that's all while we were still in training! Oh, imagine what it'll be like when we graduate!" Ruby said VERY enthusiastically.

_'She enjoys the danger way more than she should.'_ Weiss thought with a chuckle, before remembering her apparent money issue losing her happy thought and mumbling. "Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal..."

Suddenly, the intercom sounded calling JNPR to the arena. Ruby shouting out a "Gooood Luuuck!" as they walked away.

Yang looked up. "Hey, let's go watch the match."

The others agreed and quickly made their way to the transport to get to the arena, making their way to seats to watch the match.

\-----

Team JNPR's match was going well. Jaune himself was not a very impressive fighter, but the other team didn't seem very impressive either, despite the fact they made it into the tournament. On the flip side, Jaune had a tactical command of the battlefield, using his team's strengths to their fullest. The strategies were simple, but effective.

Ruby was happily cheering them on. "Yeah! Go get'em Jaune!"

"Well, he's certainly improved." Weiss had to admit. _'Pyrrha's training is really paying off. He just needed some proper confidence, not that false bravado he used to try and put on. He might make a decent huntsman yet.'_

"Yeah, but he ain't got nothin' on Pyrrha." Yang was quick to point out.

Quite frankly, in Weiss' opinion, not a single person in the arena 'had a thing' on Pyrrha. She was a whirlwind of metal on the battlefield.

As Port pointed out Nora's semblance of absorbing electricity, they watched Jaune order her to the top of the mountain, where a thunderstorm was raging.

Yang was grinning. "That is going to be a heck of a...power up."

Before the others even had a chance to groan at the pun, Blake spotted something on the field as Ren managed to grapple one of the other team and use him as a human shield. "Oh no! The sniper is aiming for Nora!"

Team JNPR showed amazing teamwork in the next few seconds. Ren shouted out and Jaune looked up at Nora still climbing. They couldn't hear what he yelled out to Pyrrha, but she suddenly broke off from her fight and ran at Jaune, flipping over the back of his opponent and onto his waiting shield as he ducked. Suddenly, Jaune launched to his feet, throwing Pyrrha up into the sniper's line of fire, taking the hit on her shield. Pyrrha flew back, hitting the mountain, but appeared ok.

"Holy crap! He threw her! That was amazing!"

It took Weiss a few seconds to realize that she was the one that yelled that as she looked at her teammates staring at her in disbelief.

Weiss suddenly looked very sheepish. "What? It was a tactically sound strategy."

Yang gave her a big grin. "Looks like Weiss is hankering for a second date with Jaune."

Weiss sent her a glare. "Oh, shut it! I am not." She stuck her nose up haughtily. "Besides, Jaune apparently finally got it through that dense skull of his that Pyrrha likes him. Good for them, I say."

Blake smirked. "Looks like Neptune might get that second chance."

Weiss huffed. "Can we concentrate on the match and not my love life, please?"

While the girls argued, they missed what was going on in the match, but when they looked back, it was to see Nora swinging her hammer so hard she sent all four of the opposing team flying into the protective dome around the arena.

"Whoa..." Was all Ruby could say.

"And with that, it appears Team JNPR wins by knockout..literally. Can...someone make sure they're ok?" Professor Port's voice came over the loudspeakers.

\-----

Next up was Sun and Neptune's team. Appropriately call SSSN, or Sun.

Yang perked up. "Hey sis. Looks like you aren't the only one with their team named after them."

Ruby groaned in annoyance. "Yang, not now..."

SSSN was fighting against another all girl team named Indigo.

"Good luck Neptune!" Weiss called out.

She watched as Neptune flashed a grin at the other team. "Ladies..."

_'That is the grin he always gave me...'_ Weiss thought angerly, finally exploding and catching the attention of the people in the row in front of her.

"Break his stupid face Indigo!"

_'Oooo...Angry Weiss. You messed up Neptune.'_ Ruby thought to herself.

Blake cringed. "Maybe Neptune won't be getting that second chance after all..."

"Shut up Blake." Weiss sighed and slumped back down into the seat beside her.

As the battleground came up, suddenly Neptune seemed to lock up. Their opponents had a desert landscape, and behind SSSN was a small pond with a pirate ship. Ruby was the first to notice. "Hey, what's wrong with Neptune?"

"Oh no..." Blake said while putting her head in her hand.

Her teammates gave her curious looks.

"Neptune's...afraid of the water."

Yang made a simple 'O' with her mouth and her eyes went wide.

Ruby noticed though that Weiss simply stopped moving...all together. She just suddenly froze, not even blinking. "Uh, Blake? I think you broke Weiss..."

Although her body froze up, Weiss' mind was racing, but most of the thoughts simply consisted of _'Neptune is afraid of the water...?'_

Blake looked at Weiss and suddenly had a look of realization on her face. "oh, no."

Ruby tapped Weiss on the shoulder. "Weiss, are you ok?"

The fight had started. There was yelling and the sounds of battle, but Weiss wasn't paying attention. It was the sound of Ruby's voice that finally cut through the fog. "Weiss, are you ok?"

Weiss slowly turned her head to look at her partner. "I...can't date Neptune..."

Ruby looked at her oddly. "Why not? Well, I mean, yeah, he is kind of flirty with the other girls, but that might just be to throw them off their game. It doesn't mean he doesn't like you."

Weiss shook her head. She still seemed in a daze. "Neptune is afraid of the water...I love swimming...more than anything, even singing..."

Meanwhile, Yang was practically vibrating in her seat. Blake managed to catch her mumbling. "Don't make a fish pun...don't make a fish pun..." over and over again. She couldn't help but smirk at that.

Ruby went wide eyed, but put on a smile. _'Support your partner Ruby. She likes him.'_    "Maybe it's not that bad. I mean, how much can he **actually** hate water?"

Weiss gave that some thought. _'She's right. I shouldn't write him off just because. We can work around that somehow I'm sure.'_

Weiss smiled at Ruby. "You're right. It can't be that bad..."

"Dude! I know you're afraid of the water, but..."

"There! I helped! Are you happy? Also... **I** am not afraid of water, and I have no idea what **you** are talking about!"

"NEPTUNE!"

"Fine! Just get out of the water."

Weiss and Ruby looked back at the battle to see Neptune quickly tiptoe up to the waters edge and jab his trident in, the electricity shocking the three opposing team members, dropping their aura and ending the match.

Weiss' smile slipped a bit. _'Ok, might be a bit harder than I thought.'_

Ruby looked up at the aura readouts and noticed that Sun was at half and Neptune was at full aura, but Sage had been taken out by ring out and Scarlet was dropped clear to zero aura during the match. She sighed in relief. "Wow, that was close."

Yang spoke up trying to distract herself. "Looks like the dorks did it."

The four girls looked down to see Sun doing a celebration dance and Neptune doing...something resembling the same. Then Sun looked up and shot finger guns at Blake, causing her to blush. "Emphasis on dork."

Ruby looked up. "Let's go congratulate them."

Weiss stopped them. "Wait." She sighed and covered her eyes with her hand. "Yang...just get them out before you shake your head loose..."

Yang's face lit up like it was Christmas morning. She didn't even ask if Weiss was serious. Weiss would not joke about giving her permission to do this.

"I guess you could say Neptune felt like....a fish out of water?"

"Don't worry Weiss. There are plenty of other...fish in the sea."

Weiss sighed.

"I think their match went...swimmingly."

"I think this ship just hit...an iceberg."

Weiss flinched.

"Weiss was so mad, it looked like she was going to 'krill' Neptune."

"I think Neptune just missed his oppor..tuna...ty to date Weiss."

Blake rolled her eyes.

"Should probably call a Sturgeon, because Weiss is gonna break his heart."

Weiss had to speak up. "Ok, that was just awful."

"Hey! Don't be Koi with me. If you can think of a better fish pun..let minnow."

Weiss gave her an unamused look. "Are you done?"

Yang took a deep breath and grinned. "I have an ocean's depth of fish puns..but yes, I'm good. Thanks Weiss."

Weiss breathed out a sigh of relief. "Ok, let's g..." She stopped short, looking up to see a very familiar airship coming in for a landing.

Yang and Blake had started off to meet the guys, while Ruby stopped. "Weiss, what is it?"

Ruby wasn't sure she had ever seen Weiss' smile as wide as it was right now.

"She's here..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yea Yang puns. I'm not a fan of puns personally, but I had fun with that part of the chapter. Comments are always welcome. Even though the chapters are basically done, I still tweak things right up until I hit the 'Post' button, so if I like something small someone mentions, I might include it. Obviously I won't be making major changes to the story based on suggestions, but little things are good.


	18. A Brawl in the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the relatives...

Weiss was running for the docks, giddy like the schoolgirl she was. _'She's here! I can't believe it!'_

Ruby was running up behind her. "Weiss! Who is it? Who is 'she'?"

Weiss turned back and grinned at Ruby for a moment, then turned to look at the woman coming down out of the airship with Atleasian robots, a look of fondness on her face. "Winter."

Ruby looked up at the woman. "Your sister?"

The woman was tall. As tall as Pyrrha probably. She had a stern expression as she looked around. The white hair and blue eyes practically guaranteed she was a Schnee. That was not including how she looked almost identical to Weiss. They were definitely related. _'They must both take after their mom. If that is what Weiss looks like when she grows up, she is going to be really pretty...wait... Where did that come from?'_

As Ruby tried to figure out that confusing thought, Weiss was speaking to Winter. The oddness of the next thing Winter said pulled Ruby out of her thoughts.

"Silence you boob! I didn't ask about your rank. I asked how you've been. Are you eating properly?"

_'Yeah, basically all she eats is salad and fish.'_

"Have you taken up any hobbies?"

_'Well, she likes pool. Heh, pool. If Beacon had a pool I bet she'd be swimming all the time. That is a hobby. Wait...wouldn't all the chlorine hurt her gills though? Maybe a pool isn't the best thing then...'_

"Are you making any new friends?" Winter finished her slew of questions.

Weiss perked up and started counting people off on her fingers. "Well, there's Pyrrha, Jaune..."

Ruby was pleasantly surprised. _'Wow, she actually counts Jaune as a friend now? That is great! Now we can all hang out more.'_

"...Velvet, Blake, Yang, and of course, Ruby." Weiss held her hand out indicating Ruby.

That was when the first thing Winter said fully processed in Ruby's mind, and she had to giggle. "Heh...boob."

Weiss sighed , but in her mind she was grinning and shaking her head at her leaders antics. "Ruby, you are my best friend, but really? Do you have to act so immature?"

Ruby stood up straight and gave Weiss a look that if Weiss didn't know her better, would call offended. "She said it, not me."

Winter turned to give Ruby her attention, and suddenly Ruby didn't feel quite as confident as she was when talking to Weiss. "Ah yes, so this is the leader you wrote of... how appropriately...underwhelming..."

Ruby wasn't sure how to respond to that, so just went with polite. "Uh...Thank you..."

Weiss cringed internally. _'Well, what else was she going to respond with? I suppose that was ok...for Ruby.'_

Winter continued, looking Ruby over. "Greetings Ruby Rose. I want to thank you for taking an interest in my sister."

Ruby's eyes went wide.

_'Interest!? No, I'm not interested in Weiss. Am I?  I don't know! How could she know if I don't even know!? Play it cool Ruby. What would Weiss do? Oh! Neutral answer. Don't confirm or deny anything. Yeah. That will work. Be fancy like they are. You can do this.'_

"Of course! The pleasure is in...my....court!"

_'Nailed it...'_

Weiss visibly cringed at that response, but quickly composed her face again.

Winter gave Ruby one more look, then turned back to Weiss.

"I have business with the General and your Headmaster, but seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters."

Weiss perked up again. "Really?"

Winter looked forward and began to head toward the courtyard. "Yes, I wish to inspect them and make sure they are up to my personal standards."

Weiss cringed internally again, but kept calm on the outside. "Of course. Just so you are aware, the bunk beds only **look** unstable."

Winter frowned. "Bunk...beds?"

Weiss was wondering if Ruby would follow, but heard her leader speaking behind her.

"I'll catch up, wait, uh....I mean, I will...reconvene with you both, at a later...juncture!....at a juncture, yeah."

 _'Well, that one made sense, at least.'_ Weiss thought with a grin.

As Weiss walked with her sister and the robot escorts, suddenly she caught the sound of something metal rolling toward her. As she turned around, she saw a sloppily dressed man looking at them. A breeze blew by and her sensitive nose caught the scent of cheap whisky coming from him, making her almost gag. He had a broken robot in his hand, that he then tossed to the ground.

"Hey! Yeah, I'm talking to you ice queen."

As the other robots started approaching him, Winter commanded them to stop. Weiss, quite offended, marched right up to him, ready to give him a piece of her mind. _'How dare he call me that!'_

"Excuse me, do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

This proved a mistake when he placed his hand on her head like she was a child and shushed her. "Sssshhh, not you."

That action caused the alcohol on his breath to fully envelop her senses, this time actually making her gag. She was so distracted she wasn't able to stop him from gently shoving her out of the way as he stared at her sister. She did manage an annoyed "Hey!", but that was it before the drunk focused fully on Winter.

"You."

_'Who is this guy?'_

"Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. Guess you're here too."

_'She's standing right there.'_

Winter spoke up. "I'm standing right before you."

The drunk looked like he suddenly **just** realized that.

"So it would seem."

Winter and the stranger went back and forth a bit as Weiss made her way back over, wanting to put some space between her and the drunk, so she could breath and think straight, until Winter called the man by name. Qrow. This brought Weiss back to reality.

"Wait, you two know each other?"

The two kept going back and forth, ignoring Weiss. She didn't understand what they were arguing about until the man, Qrow, accused the General of turning his back on Professor Ozpin.

"Ozpin?"

Suddenly, Winter placed her hand on Weiss and gently moved her away.

"Weiss it's time for you to go."

Weiss was thoroughly confused now. "What?"

Qrow sounded kind of smug now, stumbling slightly as he spoke. "Listen to big sister Weiss. She'll protect you. Just like Atlas is gonna protect all of us, huh?"

_'What is he talking about? What does Ozpin and Atlas have to do with anything?'_

Winter narrowed her eyes at the man and drew her sword. "If you won't hold your tongue, then I will gladly remove it for you!"

Weiss thought the drunk would actually back down. If he knew Winter, then he would be smart to back off. Then, she remembered the incident at the pool hall, and realized that he might actually fight Winter. That would definitely not go over well for him. Seemingly to prove her right, he slicked his hair back and suddenly seemed a lot more sober, and a LOT more cocky.

"Alright then. Come take it."

_'It's going to be like the docks all over again. God I hate drunks...'_

Winter rushed forward and started attacking the man. He was surprisingly fast for being drunk. There was no way he was faking that. He had to be practically breathing alcohol all day to have it be that strong on his breath.

_'Who the hell is this guy?'_

As they fought, Ruby walked up behind her and asked what was going on.

Weiss turned to her. "Some crazy guy just started attacking my sister!"

Ruby looked worried. "Oh no!...Who would do such a..."

_'At least she is on my side here...'_

"Th---aaaaat is my uncle!" Ruby yelled as she hopped up and down.

Weiss went wide eyed. "What!?"

_'Ruby is related to that guy!?'_

Ruby yelled out cheering the drunk man on.

"Kick her butt Uncle Qrow!"

 _'What!?'_ Weiss thought while trying to wrap her mind around Ruby's sudden change in attitude. She had to back up her sister.

"Uhh, teach him respect, Winter!"

The two combatants were nearly flying around the courtyard. Pillars were being cut apart and structures were being demolished by their fight. It suddenly struck Weiss as terrifying at how well the man fought while drunk.

_'If he can match her drunk, how skilled is he sober!? Wait! Qrow is Ruby's uncle? He is the one that taught her to fight!?'_

As the battle kept raging, Weiss could see Winter getting mad. The man just looked at her and clicked a button on his sword. It started shifting into something else and she caught Ruby's eyes go wide with glee before he suddenly reverted the weapon back and holstered it. He then looked at Winter and literally gave her the 'come here' gesture with his finger.

The crowd groaned in disappointment when he put his weapon away and Ruby pouted. She actually pouted when he put his weapon away.

_'She is such a weapon's nerd.'_

Winter on the other hand, was not at all pleased and charged at him, only stopping a few inches from Qrow's neck when a commanding voice rang out from behind them, making Weiss jump. "SCHNEE!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments always appreciated


	19. Aftermath and Sisterly Bonding

Weiss quickly spun around to look up into the face of General Ironwood. Luckily, he wasn't speaking to her, but that made her worry for her sister.

Ironwood was questioning Winter about the incident. That was when Weiss realized that Winter had been goaded into a fight by Qrow. Professor Ozpin showed up with Professor Goodwitch and diffused the situation before it got out of hand again. As Ironwood was leaving with her sister in tow, Weiss focused on her partner, who ran over and leaped onto her uncle's arm.

"Did you miss me? DID YOU MISS ME?!"

Qrow messed up her hair with his free hand and smiled at her.

"Nope."

_'That has got to be a family thing, and how is he able to hold her AND her scythe up like that with just one arm? He is a lot stronger than he looks.'_

Professor Ozpin called for Qrow and after a few words with Ruby, he gave her a fist bump and walked off. Now that the smell of alcohol was less, Weiss walked over. "And suddenly your recklessness makes sense."

Ruby grinned at her and nudged her arm. "You're just mad that he kicked butt."

Weiss felt the need to defend her sister's honor again. "That was a draw at best."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Come on Weiss. I'll wait outside the tower with you until your sister is done with her meeting. I'm sure you want to spend some time with her, and I haven't seen my uncle in a while."

"Is he always like that?"

Ruby looked over at Weiss with a grin. "If you mean awesome, then yes."

"I meant drunk."

Ruby's eyes dropped and her smile slipped a bit as she sighed. "Yeah, more often than not."

Weiss wasn't sure how to react to that. "Sorry Ruby. I didn't mean to upset you."

Ruby gave her a sad smile. "I know Weiss. It's just...I was complete garbage with my scythe before he trained me. I know he isn't the best role model, but he is a great huntsman and I would have never made it to Beacon without his help. I still kind of look up to him."

Weiss put her hand on her leader's shoulder and gave her a smile. "I understand. Winter was the one who trained me. I never went to a combat school. I look up to her too."

Ruby's smile got a bit happier. "Both trained by relatives that hate each other. Guess we are more alike than we thought, huh?"

Weiss cringed. "Ruby, I'd like to think there are a lot better things we have in common than problematic relatives."

Ruby grinned and wrapped her arm around Weiss' shoulder. "You mean like how we are both awesome?"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Sure."

_'I think I'm starting to turn into Blake when she talks to Yang.'_

Making their way across campus, the duo came around the corner of the cafeteria. Weiss suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing Ruby to stumble as she still had her arm wrapped around Weiss' shoulder.

"Weiss? What are y-mhhmha."

Ruby gave Weiss an annoyed glare when she put her hand over Ruby's mouth. That was until she saw what Weiss was looking at. Sitting down against a wall was Jaune and Pyrrha. They were holding hands and Pyrrha had her head on his shoulder. Weiss pulled Ruby back around the corner as the younger huntress gave a muffled squeal behind Weiss' hand.

Weiss hushed her and they both stuck their heads back around the corner to see the couple. When they both looked again, they saw Jaune looking at them, confused look on his face. Weiss gave him a thumbs up and he blushed and looked down at Pyrrha, smiling.

This time Weiss couldn't hold back a squeal of her own and Ruby clapped her hand over Weiss' mouth leaving the two awkwardly holding each others mouths shut while looking at the sight.

"Weiss, Ruby? Could you two give us some privacy?"

Pyrrha smiled and opened one eye to look at them, giggling at the sight of the two huntresses holding each other's mouths shut. Ruby was the first to recover, pulling Weiss' hand away. "Yep! Noooo problem! You two have fun! You two look soooo cute together, oh my goodness!"

Weiss put her hand back over Ruby's mouth. "Ruby, you're rambling."

She then turned to Jaune and Pyrrha. "Sorry for the interruption. We'll leave you two alone. Oh, and Jaune?"

When Jaune gave her a curious look, she sent him a glare. "Be good to her. She is quite the catch."

Jaune gulped and nodded.

Weiss' glare turned into a playful smirk. "I'm just teasing Jaune. Congratulations you two. Glad to see you finally together."

Jaune gave her another curious look. "Finally?"

Weiss' eyes went wide. "Nothing! We'll see you around!"

Ruby grabbed her around the shoulder again and yelled as she pulled Weiss away. "Congrats again! Bye!"

Pyrrha giggled at their antics and settled closer to Jaune.

"Pyrrha? What was that about?"

Pyrrha just smiled to herself.

"Nothing..."

\--------

As Ruby and Weiss arrived at the tower, Winter was just stalking out the doors. She visibly calmed down when she spotted Weiss, but raised an eyebrow when she saw Ruby's arm wrapped around her sister.

Weiss and Ruby noticed and Ruby quickly retracted her arm, attempting to mimic the way she had seen Weiss act. "Have a nice time with your sister Weiss. I will see you later at the dorm, ok?"

Weiss rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yes, yes. I will see you later."

Ruby went inside the tower to wait for her uncle while Weiss turned to her older sister, putting on her formal attitude. "Sister, if you have time to spare, would you care to join me in the gardens?"

Winter stood up straight and copied the attitude. "Yes, it seems I have more time than anticipated. I would be honored to join you."

\--------

The two sisters sat in the Beacon's garden enjoying tea and some pastries. Weiss would never let Ruby know she enjoyed such things, or the girl would likely drag her to every bakery in town. It was a good time to catch up, even if most of the things Winter did were 'classified'.

"So," Winter began. "I've noticed you seem much more comfortable with people than you used to be. Particularly with your team leader."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes, well Ruby and Yang are very physical in their affections. Hugs are a common method of showing they care. It was something Blake and I had to get used to."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "They do not know how to respect boundaries?"

Weiss waved off the accusation. "They both will stop if asked, or if they notice discomfort. It is just how they were raised, and years of living in a loving family makes them affectionate. It is a habit that I don't think they will ever break." Weiss frowned and looked down at her plate. "As annoying as it can be when I want to be left alone, I envy them sometimes."

"It is nice to see you get along with them."

Weiss smiled. "It was a rough start, to be certain. Our first semester was quite...troubled. We are much better now. I trust them with things I don't trust anyone else with."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Even me?"

Weiss managed not to flinch, but averting her eyes was just as telling, and she knew it.

"Welllll...."

_'Can I tell her? SHOULD I tell her? Should I make something up? Am I overthinking this? I don't have a plan for this. I need more information first.'_

The world hadn't ended when Jaune and her team had found out, but as much as she was sure she knew her sister, Winter had been away for quite some time. She needed to be sure.

Weiss looked back at her sister and asked something she was not expecting.

"Winter, what is your opinion of the Faunus?"

Winter blinked at that, then looked curious. "In what way?"

Weiss shrugged "Just in general."

Winter took a sip of her tea. "In general, I see nothing wrong with them. They are people. We have many of them in the Specialist program, and Atlas Academy. I have worked with a few over the years also. Why do you ask?"

Weiss looked down at her plate again. "I've noticed since coming to Beacon that many of my previous views of Faunus has been...negatively influenced. Being away from Father has been good for me, I think."

Weiss started when Winter's hand was placed over her own on the table. She looked up to see her sister with soft eyes. "Let me guess. One of your teammates is actually a Faunus and you've had to adjust, correct? I'd place my lien on the Belladonna girl."

Weiss' eyes went wide. "Wha....How?"

Winter chuckled. "Dear sister, I've been away from the influence of upper class society long enough to realize that there is still rampant discrimination. I'm not blinded to it anymore. Atlas is particularly bad in that respect. And, as much as hunters tend to be..eccentric..with their armor and weapons, I don't think I've seen a seventeen year old girl wear a bow that often."

Weiss sat there shocked. She couldn't believe Winter had seen through Blake's disguise just from seeing their match when Weiss had spent weeks living with her without knowing.

Winter then chuckled again. "Well, that and the Belladonna family were well known members of the White Fang when the organization was still peaceful. It was not hard to put two and two together when you have that sort of information. If she was truly trying to hide, she would have changed her name."

Weiss deflated. "Well, yes, but that needs to remain a secret."

Winter smiled at her. "Well, of course. I will respect your team's privacy on that matter. I have to think there is more to your question than that though. What is bothering you sister?"

Weiss sat there looking at the only one of her relatives that she actually liked and trusted, mentally debating with herself if she could tell her after all these years. _'Will she be upset that I didn't tell her before?_ _Will she still accept me as her sister if I'm only her half sister? Ruby and Yang get along fine, so that shouldn't be an issue. She accepts working with Faunus, but is she ok being related to one?'_

Winter sat there watching Weiss' eyes dart around, unfocused as her mind seemed to be scrambling for words. She took both the younger Schnee's hands in her own. "Weiss."

Weiss' eyes suddenly focused and locked with her own. "Winter. You love me, right?"

Winter was taken aback. Now she was worried for Weiss. "Of course sister. What is this about?"

Winter felt her sister's hands tighten on her own and saw an expression of fear on her face.

_'Just woman up and do it Weiss! You've put yourself too far out. It's too late to back out now. She knows it is something important. Oh Winter, please don't hate me for waiting on this. I should have trusted you with this a long time ago.'_

"Weiss..." Winter didn't get any further as she watched something almost clear slide across Weiss' eyes, making them look dull and distorted. There was also the sound of something wet sliding across a surface.  She had heard that sound before from some lizard Faunus who could do things with their eyes. If the garden wasn't so quiet and she wasn't so close to Weiss, she probably would have missed the sound. As her eyes went wide in realization, she felt Weiss' hands lock down in a vice grip and her look of fear turn to one of desperation.

The strange clear membranes slid away and Winter could see tears pooling in the corners of her sister's eyes. When Weiss spoke, it was quiet and her voice cracked. "Winter...please...don't hate me."

Winter was unable to speak in her shock, but she tightened her grip on her sister's hands to let her know she wasn't going anywhere. _'Oh my. She is an emotional wreck right now. How do I deal with this?'_

Weiss pulled her hands away as she stood up and walked around the table, practically throwing herself at her sister, hugging her like Winter would leave if she let go. Finally Winter was able to speak.

"I don't hate you sister, but...how?"

Weiss put her head on Winter's shoulder and spoke quietly.

"I don't want to say too much now out in public, but something happened with Mother and a Faunus and I was the result. That is all I really know. I never asked her for details. Father doesn't know. Only Mother and Klein knew. My teammates found out about a week ago during a training incident. I'm so sorry I kept this from you. I tried to keep it from everyone. If Father or the board finds out, I'll have the company taken from me."

Winter nodded and held her close. "Understandable. If you don't mind me asking, what kind?"

Weiss chuckled.

_'Of course that's the first thing she asks. Just like Ruby. Why was I so scared of Winter knowing? I knew I could trust her.'_

"Shark. I have gills and a really good sense of smell."

Winter hummed in acknowledgement.

"Useful. You always did love swimming. Do you want me to look into this for you? See if I can find anything out?"

Weiss shook her head sharply. "I think I'm better off not knowing. I have no name or picture or anything anyway. If you go searching for information, it will just bring attention to me. I can't risk that."

Winter pulled her away to arms length and looked Weiss in the eyes. "I will keep this to myself. I love you sister. Do not forget that."

Weiss nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you. I love you too."

Winter stood up and straightened her uniform and then adjusted Weiss' jacket and hair, getting her back to looking respectable. Her serious, teacher attitude back on display. "Ok, now I have another question."

Weiss looked up at her.

"How is your summoning progressing?"

Weiss flinched. "Well...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weiss finally tells her sister her secret. More and more people are learning. Let's hope that doesn't come back to bite Weiss in the ass. This just goes to show how terrified Weiss is about the wrong people finding out that she is a Faunus, but she is learning that she can trust others.
> 
> Volume 5 made it clear that Ruby is fully aware of her uncle's drinking problem, and not very happy about it. 
> 
> Hey, we finally get our first official ship. In canon, the ship wasn't really 'official' until right before Pyrrha ran up the tower and got herself killed, so we are going to give Arkos at least a little while to be happy before all hell breaks loose. The girl deserves it.  
> The 'I think I'm starting to turn into Blake when she talks to Yang.' comment was a reference to when Blake and Yang got their chess piece. I always assumed that response was common for Blake when talking to Yang. The team members' quirks rubbed off on each other.
> 
> As always, comments and constructive criticism are appreciated. I like to know what you like and don't like.


	20. Muscle vs Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another canon chapter...kinda...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note so people don't freak out. I originally wasn't going to do so, but after giving it some thought, I've decided I'm going to split this story into a series. This is done for a few reasons.
> 
> 1\. This story is going to get REALLY long by the time the show's run is over. I'm 20 chapters in and we are still in Volume 3. (Not to mention Volume 1 was covered in about 10 sentences and we are still running this long)
> 
> 2\. I've noticed that sometime really long stories get ignored because not everyone has time to binge read super long fics. This makes it visually less intimidating.
> 
> 3\. (My biggest reason) My later chapters get ship heavy and there is a lot of original elements thrown in and I don't want to spoil those for people that come across these earlier chapters later because it takes away from the slow burn and the 'will they/won't they become official' elements of the ships.
> 
> The end of Volume 3 is where the show took a real turn in canon, and seems like a good place to make that cut. So don't worry, the story will definitely continue, it will just become a series.

The doubles round was in full swing. Team RWBY were in the stands watching Penny's team fight for Atlas against Team CRDL. As much as they didn't like Cardin and his team, they were still representing Beacon, so most of the team just decided to remain neutral on which team to cheer for. Ruby had no such issues and happily cheered her friend Penny on.

Blake was talking to Yang and Weiss about the match.

"I'm surprised Cardin himself isn't out there. He's got the ego for it."

Weiss shook her head. "Cardin is an idiot, but he is smart enough to know he isn't the best choice. Russel is more adaptable."

Yang chipped in. "I'm more surprised that they chose Sky as Russel's teammate. Dove is the strongest fighter they have. He would have been a good choice."

Weiss spoke up again. "Dove is their best fighter, and would have been the best option with Russel, but Sky has a long reach with his Halbard. That is probably why they chose him. Works to offset Russel's daggers. I would have sent Dove and Russel in if it was my choice."

The other two girls nodded agreement as Ruby whooped and cheered as Penny's lasers forced Russel and Sky to dive for cover behind some rocks.

All four girls flinched when Penny slammed her swords into the rocks the boys were hiding behind and picked them up, slamming the rocks and boys to the ground and taking them out of the match.

Yang hissed out in sympathy. "Ow. That had to hurt."

As Penny and her teammate left the field, Ruby got up and ran toward the exit. Weiss looked over at Yang. "Let's head to the locker room. Our match is up next."

Yang grinned. "I've been looking forward to this all day."

Doctor Oobleck's voice came over the speakers announcing the next match would be in fifteen minutes and the girls got up and started heading for the locker room.

Blake yelled out as they walked off. "Good luck! We'll be cheering for you!"

Ruby came running back and gave them both hugs and 'good lucks' before running back to her seat next to Blake and grinning at the cat Faunus. "This is going to be a great fight. I hope they win."

Blake grinned back. "Weiss' brains and Yang's muscles together? They got this."

Ruby snickered. "Weiss had a battle plan. I'm not sure how much Yang was paying attention to it. They'll be fine though."

\-------

In the locker room as the girls got ready, Weiss noticed Yang kept glancing at her. Her rib cage, specifically. Weiss knew now wasn't the time, but if Yang was distracted, it could affect the match. She let out a quiet sigh. "Yang, if you wanted to know, you could have just asked anytime during the last few days."

She glanced at Yang and the blonde quickly looked back into her locker, then let out a breath and shook her head. "It's nothing."

Weiss turned and looked around the locker room. Since they were preparing for a match, the room was empty except for the two of them. "Yang, I can tell that something is on your mind and I don't want it distracting you during the match. Now come on, we've got five minutes until we need to be on the field. What is it?"

Yang closed her locker and turned to look at Weiss. "Ok. I didn't want to ask anything because I know how self conscious you have been about your..." Yang also took a glance around the room and then walked closer to Weiss, dropping her volume a bit. "...features, but I've been curious about a few things, and I didn't want to upset you by asking until you were more comfortable."

Weiss relaxed a little bit.

_'Well, I guess that makes sense.'_

"You want to know what I'm able to do, right?"

Yang looked a little sheepish and shrugged. "Yeah. Maybe we could use that in some of our mission plans."

Weiss smiled. "I'm pretty sure Ruby has already done that, but ok. Quick rundown."

She walked up and put her hands up on Yang's shoulders, speaking quietly in case there were any eavesdroppers. "Arctic shark. I have gills. I can breath underwater. My night vision is the same as yours, but adjusts instantly. I have a very good sense of smell, and as Ruby put it, I have 'built in goggles.' "

Weiss let her extra lids close for a few seconds before letting them slide away. She then looked at her watch. "I hope that is enough to tide you over for now, because we need to get up there."

Yang let out a breath. "Thanks Weiss. I should have asked earlier."

Weiss waved off the apology as she walked toward the door. "It's ok. I understand...and..I appreciate you thinking about my feelings on the matter."

With that, the two climbed the stairs and came out into the light and noise of the arena.

\-------

Out on the arena floor, Yang bounced on her feet loosening herself up and started stretching.

"Welp, now it's our turn!"

Weiss hoped Yang wouldn't still be distracted by their earlier conversation and could follow the strategy they thought up. "Just remember to keep proper form."

Yang sighed. "Alright. Well, you're from Atlas. What can we expect?"

Weiss thought about it for a moment. _'Academies and the military are connected, so they should be well trained, but predictable strategies. They won't be as adaptable as us. As long as we stick together.'_

"Well, seeing as their kingdom, academy, and armed forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies."

_'We figure out their strategy and counteract it and we can win this.'_

Suddenly the wind whipped up behind them and a cat Faunus...a cat Faunus so colorful she made Nora look like Weiss, came around and stopped next to a man dressed in a suit and hat, with a....trumpet?

_'Is she wearing roller skates?'_

Yang was slack jawed next to Weiss and just as surprised.

Weiss turned her head toward Yang while gesturing at their opponents.

"Or...whatever they are..."

Suddenly the man called out to her.

"Your Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress."

_'Well, these people are more eccentric than Ruby, but no need to be impolite.'_

Weiss replied with a polite smile. "I am!"

"I take it your pretty good with dust then?"

Weiss shyly looked to the side. There was no need to be cocky. Beacon had been good for her she decided. She can be modest if she wanted to be.

"I do my best."

Weiss suddenly felt a tension in the arena she hadn't felt before. It seemed to come from her opponent.

"Yeah, my dad was good, too. Owned a little dust shop of his own..." The tension suddenly doubled, and it was definitely coming from the man she was talking to. "...'til your father's company ran him outta business."

_'Of course, Father's practices would roll over anyone that got in his way. That is something else I'm going to need to change.'_

Weiss looked down in shame.  "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

Her opponent scoffed. "Sure you are..."

Yang had enough at that point and came to defend Weiss.

_'Weiss can't control what her father does. She doesn't deserve to be treated like that!'_

"Hey! Why don't you...?"

"Hey! Why don't you...?" came a mocking reply from the cat Faunus.

As the Faunus tried to rile up Yang, Weiss concentrated on strategy.

_'Well, this guy has it out for me, so I'll have to be extra careful. He will probably concentrate on me. And with the Faunus girl mocking Yang, I'm going to have to try and keep her under control and not let her get distracted.'_

As the match started, Weiss and Yang's plan immediately fell apart. Flynt used his trumpet to shoot out a powerful sound wave against her and Yang. Weiss quickly set a glyph under herself to stop from being knocked back, but Yang was not so lucky and Weiss caught sight of Neon being propelled by the same sound wave and hitting Yang as she flew by. Now they were separated and Weiss was facing an opponent by herself that held a huge grudge against her family and was about to take it out on her.

Weiss placed a gravity glyph under herself and used it to charge at Flynt sword first. Her momentum was halted by another blast of his trumpet and she started laying down more glyphs to hold her to the ground as she slowly made her way toward him.

_'I need to get in close. He will be more vulnerable at close range.'_

Suddenly, the onslaught stopped and Weiss found herself quickly stumbling forward as a sharp pain caught her in the middle of the back and she tripped on a rock in the lava field, sending her sprawling. As she got up she saw Flynt staring her down.

_'Dammit! We needed to stick together so I could support Yang and she could take them out. Ok, Let's see how he handles this!'_

Weiss summoned four glyphs and spun a few times, pushing more of her aura and ice dust into them, then let the ice missiles fly. She watched as Flynt dropped to his knees in front of a lava geyser and used his trumpet to push the blast into her missiles, melting them into nothing. He then stood up and gave her a smug grin. "Too bad all that money can't buy you skill."

_'Screw you. I'll show you skill! Father's money didn't get me into Beacon! I **earned** my way here!'_

Weiss scowled as she angrily cycled her sword over to wind dust.

_'Two can play at this game.'_

As Flynt one again blasted his trumpet at her, she countered with a vortex of wind, the two forces holding each other at bay. While he was distracted trying to overpower her, Weiss smirked as she conjured glyphs in a circle all around him.

_'Let's see how you like this.'_

Weiss bounced from glyph to glyph, slashing Flynt left and right, conjuring more glyphs as she left each one, so he wouldn't know where she was coming from next.

_'Gotcha.'_

As she jumped from one glyph to the one beside it to get behind him, Flynt used the moment of peace to activate his semblance, splitting him into four clone, all of them armed with trumpets. As she came in for another strike, Weiss crossed the attack zone and got blown away, smashing into the ground and rolling across the rocks. Shaking her head to clear it, Weiss looked up to see her sword laying a few feet away. As she reached for it, she saw a fancy dress shoe step down on the blade. Gritting her teeth, she looked up into Flynt's smug grin.

_'I'm getting real tired of that face.'_

They both looked over as Yang started yelling, Neon skating in a circle and taunting her. Flynt gave Weiss one last look, then turned and used his semblance, taking aim at Yang. That was when Weiss noticed one of the lava geysers about to erupt. She made a snap decision.

_'I'm not some spoiled brat! I'm a huntress dammit! Think I'm not a threat anymore!? I'll show you what I'm willing to do to keep my team safe! You are NOT going to hurt my teammate while I can still fight!'_

She got to her feet and lunged at Flynt, her last thought being _'This is going to hurt.'_

As she tackled him into the exploding geyser she screamed in pain as her aura broke until the merciful darkness took over her mind.

When Weiss came to, she heard Yang calling out to her and helping her sit up.

"Weiss! Are you ok?"

Weiss started coughing out ash and she could see minor burns all over her skin and clothes, but it was worth it. They had won. She looked up at Yang's concerned face.

"I may not be singing for a while." she weakly managed to get out.

_'I'm going to need a long bath too. Even my gills are full of soot now.'_

Yang's face turned to a slight smile and she sighed. "You know, I'm not sure that was proper form."

_'Seriously Yang?'_

"Oh, ha, ha." Weiss sarcastically said before bursting into another coughing fit.

Weiss caught the sound of their opponents seemingly unable to believe they lost, but then Neon exclaimed about how 'awesome' the fight was and how they should party together. It reminded her of Nora.

Even Flynt gave her some respect. Next thing she knew Blake and Ruby were rushing up and kneeling next to her.

"Good job you two!" Blake exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed, leaning down to give Weiss a hug around the shoulders, putting her head near Weiss' ear as she whispered to her.

"How are your gills?"

Weiss gave a tired smile to her leader and whispered back. "Really dry and full of soot. I'm going to need a long soak after this."

Ruby chuckled. "Well, you definitely earned it. Come on, let's get you back to the dorm."

With Ruby helping support her weight, they made their way out of the arena after their hard fought victory.


	21. As It Comes Crashing Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to say goodbye, to the things we loved and the innocence of youth...

_"Break a leg sis!"_

_'Yes! She won!'_

_"Don't move!"_

_"You don't understand! He attacked me! I swear!"_

_'Yang...what were you thinking?'_

_\------_

_"When you're out on the battlefield, your judgement can be clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there."_

_'But Yang looked fine. She wasn't stressed.'_

_"But I wasn't-"_

_"That's enough! The sad truth is, whether it was an accident, or assault...it doesn't matter. Everyone saw you attack an innocent student, and they've drawn their own comclusions, and I'm here to inform you that you've been disqualified."_

_"You guys believe me....right?"_

_'Of course we believe you.'_

_"Yang, you're hotheaded, but you're not ruthless."_

_"...Blake?"_

_'Blake...you can't honestly think she would do that...could you? She's crying. Yang never cries.'_

_"I...want to believe you."_

_"How can you say that? You know Yang would never lie to us."_

_"I had someone very dear to me change. It was gradual. At first, it was accidents, then it was self-defense. I even started to believe him. This is all just...very...familiar. You're not him though, and you've never done anything like this before. I will trust you, but you need to look me in the eye and tell me he attacked you. I need to hear that you regret having to do that."_

_"He attacked me, so I attacked back."_

_'Blake, you have to believe her. You know Yang. She's your partner.'_

_"Ok...Thank you."_

_"I think I'm gonna rest up."_

_\------_

_"How's she doing?"_

_'Good to see JNPR still believes in her.'_

_"As well as she can..."_

_"Pyrrha. Win one for Beacon, ok? It's what Yang would want. I'll watch tonight in case you get picked!"_

_"Sorry, but I think I've had enough fighting for one year."_

_"Ditto. Coffee?"_

_"Tea."_

_'Tea..actually sounds good right now. Maybe we should invite JNPR?....no, they probably want to help Pyrrha get ready for her fight.'_

\------

The scene was familiar, except it was Blake instead of Winter, and it was the fairgrounds instead of the gardens.

Weiss smiled as she set her cup down. "This tea is pretty good."

Blake grinned. "Finally gonna give up on coffee?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I said it is pretty good, not that I've gone insane."

Blake chuckled. "All that caffeine is going to give you a heart attack by the time you're thirty."

Weiss groaned.  "My family will give me one long before coffee does."

Blake's brow scrunched up for a moment, then she set her cup down and took a breath. "Hey Weiss? Speaking of family...do you ever think about...him?"

Weiss looked up at her in confusion. "Him?"

"The family you never met."

Weiss sighed. "I...do occasionally, wondering how my life could be different growing up with him, but I know nothing about him, so the possibilities are endless. I could have grown up like Ruby and Yang, or you, or even Ren, or Jaune. It wasn't worth worrying about since it could have literally been anything."

"Do you even know how Ren or Jaune grew up?"

Weiss looked down at her cup. "Well, no, not really. Jaune has seven sisters, and both of his parents, but that is all I really know about him. Ren...I guess all I really know is that he and Nora don't have anywhere else to go if not for Beacon. I really should make an effort to learn more about JNPR since we are friends. My point still stands though. My life could have been anything if I had lived with him instead of where I did."

"Ever think about trying to find him?"

"I did once, but I'd have to talk to Mother if I ever wanted to try, and..."

Blake looked at her teammate in concern as Weiss trailed off.

_'Is her whole family besides her sister really that bad?'_

"Is she as bad as your father?"

Weiss shook her head while trying to come up with a proper response. "She's...let's just say there is a reason I will never drink alcohol, and leave it at that. Say, do you want to go look at some more booths?"

Blake let the sudden change of subject go. It was something Weiss obviously wasn't ready to talk about yet. Instead, she gave a teasing grin. "Looking for something for Neptune?"

Weiss gave her a weak glare. "Blake. Father cut off my allowance because I've been avoiding his inane phone calls. I couldn't buy anything even if I wanted to, and even if I could, no. I'm not getting a gift for Neptune. Besides, the subject of Neptune and I is....complicated now...and no, I do not wish to talk about it at the moment. I've had enough drama this year to last me a lifetime."

Weiss took a breath and smiled. "Right now, I just want to enjoy the day with one of my friends and not think about dating, or fights, or any of the other craziness we tend to get into..."

And that was when all the television screens turned red...

\------

Weiss was watching her entire life crashing down around her. The tournament had been going so well, then Yang had been accused of attacking and injuring a defeated opponent. Penny was a robot, and Pyrrha had accidentally just tore her apart on international television. Ruby was missing. White Fang and Grimm were swarming the school. Atlas robots were turned against them. It was utter mayhem. After the frantic phone call with Yang, Weiss was at a loss. Luckily Blake had managed to keep a level head.

"What are we going to do?"

"We are going to the docks, and we are going to do our jobs."

When they got to the docks, there were White Fang and Atlesian robots attacking everyone in sight. While Blake went off to take down White Fang soldiers, Weiss summoned as many glyphs as she could and tore through the lines of robots. They were even easier to destroy than most Grimm. Managing to tear the lines apart, she went to back up Blake, who had taken a hit and was about to get overrun. A quick glyph threw the onslaught away, and the two Faunus stood back to back against the swarm.

The two barely spoke as they fought. Their constant teamwork was showing. _'So different from when we started here.'_ Weiss thought absently while they ran for the docks. A growl brought her out of her thoughts and both girls looked up to see an Alpha Beowulf heading for the cafeteria. The girls locked eyes and nodded.

"Be safe." Was all Weiss said and they split apart as she ran for the docks. _'Blake can handle a single Alpha. She will be fine.'_

When she arrived at the docks, there was even more destruction. She immediately threw herself into the fight, absentmindedly noting the other fighters. Students from other schools were helping. She saw Pyrrha and Ren and Nora tearing into the Grimm and robots. As she flew by on her glyphs, she noticed Jaune bash an Ursa to the ground with his shield. _'Thank goodness for all that extra training he did.'_

The Grimm and robots were slowly being whittled away, but the two Paladins in the area were still standing. Weiss was getting worried. Blake still hadn't returned, and Pyrrha and Jaune had disappeared. Suddenly, she heard the whirl of gears next to her and turned just in time to see the fist of a Paladin connect with her face.

"Weiss!" As she flew through the air, she caught sight of Neptune reaching out to her, and then being struck by the other Paladin. _'If we survive this, I really need to make an effort to figure things out with him. He really does care.'_ The thought crossed her mind for a split second before she hit the ground.

As she slowly got up, she noticed that Neptune had managed to recover faster than she had and was standing with Coco, Velvet, and two of the fighters from team ABRN, all opening fire on the paladins. Unfortunately, bullets weren't doing much against the mechs. Neptune's plasma gun was having an effect, but it wasn't enough.

"This is bad." Neptune sounded nervous.

"Velvet! Make 'em count." Coco was grinning at the rabbit Faunus and Velvet got a determined look on her face. Gone was the timid bunny girl that Weiss was used to seeing. As Weiss finally managed to get to her feet, she saw Velvet walking toward the mech by herself.

"What are you doing!? She's going to get hurt!"

Coco merely glanced over her shoulder and smirked. "Just watch."

_'What is she thinking!? Sending Velvet out by herself!'_

Weiss was too unstable to assist yet. The mech had hit her harder than she thought. Her mouth dropped when she saw what Velvet was doing. Her camera was making hard light copies of various people's weapons. She recognized those of her team, standing in awe as she watched Velvet match her own technique with Myrtenaster perfectly. Coco glanced back at her with a grin. "Her Semblance is Mimicry."

_'She can copy other people's techniques with her semblance!?'_

Velvet was tearing into the paladins, seamlessly switching out weapons and technique like they were something she had done all her life. Weiss' eyes got misty for a moment when she saw Velvet use a copy of Penny's swords, but she quickly got her emotions under control. She could mourn the dead after saving the living. Velvet cut the legs off of one of the Paladins with the swords, then used a massive laser blast to take out the other. That was when the first paladin caught Velvet with it's fist and sent her sprawling, her camera flying out of reach.

"Velvet!" Coco cried out and the others started laying down cover fire on the mostly legless mech, trying to draw it's attention away from Velvet.

 _'It's not working! I've got to stop that thing!'_ In a moment of determined desperation, Weiss made a decision and took off on her glyphs, dead set on protecting Velvet. _'If I can stall it, the others can take it, I'm sure.'_

As she ran along her path, her only thought was 'protect Velvet'. That was until she felt something behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see a strangely familiar glyph. She didn't have time to think about it more as she slid to a stop in between Velvet and the Paladin, holding her sword up over her head to hopefully delay the strike and let Velvet get away. _'At least I'll die bringing some honor to the Schnee name.'_

As she cringed and squeezed her eyes shut, she waited for the strike to come...and it didn't. _'Did it kill me so quick I didn't even feel it?'_

Weiss slowly opened one eye to notice that, no, she wasn't dead, so she opened her other eye and looked up just to have them go wide as she saw the sword of the Arma Gigas she fought to get into Beacon. The giant sword was being held by an arm protruding from the glyph she saw behind her. It was blocking the Paladin's punch, then proceeded to cut the mech in half. Weiss almost collapsed from exhaustion but blinked when she saw a flash and noticed Velvet taking her picture and smiling. Then the ground started shaking and another Paladin skid to a halt at the end of the walkway. Sun summed up her thoughts perfectly.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!"

As the Paladin came charging in, Weiss heard an explosion and looked up to see General Ironwood's capital ship crashing to the ground. She looked back to see the lights in the Paladin's eyes suddenly go out and the mech crashed to the ground, no longer operating. Weiss breathed a sigh of relief and put her sword to the ground to keep herself upright. The adrenaline from the fight wore off and she was exhausted. That was when Yang came running up asking where Blake was.

"Cafeteria. Chased...down an Alpha."

Yang nodded. "I'm going after her. Are you ok?"

Weiss gave her one of her patented 'I'm not dead yet' thumbs up and with that, Yang was off.

As Weiss stood there catching her breath, Velvet came over. "Thank you Weiss. You saved me."

Weiss gave her a tired smile. "Of course. You would have done the same."

Velvet used her thumb to point over her shoulder. "Come on. Survivors are gathering at the docks. Let's go help."

Weiss nodded and followed Velvet, arriving at the docks with the wounded. Ren and Nora were in bad shape. Both had taken a beating during the fight. Even more than Weiss had.

As she went over helping who she could she heard someone call out her name. She turned to see a bloodchilling sight. Blake was dragging Yang's unconscious body with her. Yang was missing her right arm just above the elbow and Blake was bleeding out of a nasty stomach wound. The smell of the blood made her stomach growl, reminding her she had not eaten in some time, but the sight was enough to make her nauseous, killing any thought of eating for the foreseeable future. She ran over and took Yang from Blake, and got them both settled down near Nora and Ren. She proceeded to tear off strips of her jacket, ignoring how exposed it made her feel, and used the cleanest parts of the cloth to wrap up her teammates' wounds.

While wrapping their wounds, Weiss tried to get answers.

"Blake, what happened?"

Blake didn't answer. She just kept looking at Yang and crying, occasionally saying "I'm sorry." over and over.

As Weiss looked over the scene, she heard someone running up to her and turned to see her leader running up to her, grabbing her hands.

"Ruby!"

Ruby looked relieved. "Oh, thank goodness. I found you!"

Weiss was concerned. "Ruby, where have you..."

Ruby interrupted her. "I'm fine. What's going on?"

Weiss looked away. Ruby got worried.

"Weiss?...what is it?"

_'Brace yourself Weiss. Be strong for them...'_

Weiss stepped out of the way and watched as Ruby's face fell. "Yang..." Blake was still grabbing Yang's remaining hand and crying out that she was sorry.

Sun came up to try and calm them down. "Hey. She'll be ok. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you to Vale."

Nora called out that Jaune and Pyrrha were missing, her and Ren trying to stand, but unable due to their injuries.

Ruby was freaking out. "What?!"

Sun tried to get them back on track. "Look guys, that giant Grimm keeps circling the school. Even the White Fang are pulling out. We all have to go...now!"

Weiss and Ruby looked over their friends, with Ruby coming to a decision. "I'll find them. I'll find them and bring them back."

Weiss just got Ruby back. There was no way she was leaving her partner again. She looked at her team leader, catching her attention. "No. **WE** will find them."

She turned to Sun. "Watch after Blake and Yang. We'll be back."

Sun mumbled to himself. "You better be..."

As they ran for the tower, Weiss' scroll went off. She pulled it out to see just who they were looking for, answering it quickly. "It's Jaune! Jaune! Where are you?"

Jaune's voice came over the call, sounding frantic. "Weiss! Please, you have to stop her!"

Weiss was confused. "What?"

Jaune was practically yelling at this point. "Pyrrha! She's going after that woman...at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!"

Weiss and Ruby looked at the tower "Jaune, what are you talking about? Where are you?"

Jaune was screaming through the scroll. He sounded on the verge of tears. "Don't worry about me! Please...you have to save Pyrrha."

Weiss looked at Ruby, then back at the scroll. She was worried for him. "We will. Are you ok?"

The sound of Jaune yelling came over the scroll, then it went silent. Weiss recognized that tone. It was someone about to break down. She had made that same sound more than once in private. She needed to get him to calm down. "Jaune? Jaune!"

The ground suddenly started shaking and the Grimm dragon landed on the tower, Grimm spawning underneath it.

Ruby pulled out her scythe. "I have a plan."

Weiss' face was all concentration and determination as she put her scroll away and drew Myrtenaster. "You always do." With that they both charged into the waiting Grimm.

As they were fighting, suddenly the dragon smashed into the top of the tower. Both girls dodged falling debris and killed off any Grimm that survived. Ruby called out.

"We have to hurry!"

Weiss looked up at the tower and knew what she had to do. Ruby could get there faster than the two of them. Weiss would just have to find a different way up. She summoned multiple glyphs running up the side of the tower, just like she had during initiation, then looked at her leader.

"You can do this."

Ruby looked up at the tower, thinking, then took a deep breath. Before Weiss knew what was happening, Ruby was suddenly grabbing her face and kissing her. Ruby pulled away and kept one hand on Weiss's cheek, talking quietly. "Just in case I don't make it. I wanted to do that...just once. It's much better when I'm not drowning..." As she let go, Weiss was stunned. Ruby looked into her eyes. "Stay safe Weiss." With that she ran off and jumped up onto the tower, running up the glyphs to the top.

Weiss was too shocked to do anything except watch Ruby run up the tower. Her hand slowly made it's way to her lips, still feeling the sensation of being kissed. Before she could think more on it, there was a sudden painful scream from the top of the tower as a white light filled the air and blinded her.

**"PYYYRRRHHHAAAA!"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you watch the beginning of Breach at the end of Volume 2 and the scene where Yang runs up to Weiss in volume 3, you get to see Weiss' "I'm not dead yet" thumbs up. I always just enjoyed calling it that. As always, I enjoy comments from all of you guys.


	22. Scattered to the Wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay in posting (I normally do it fairly early in the morning.) I wanted to watch the 1st episode of Volume 6 before posting because I'm sure there will be some talk about it and I don't have an RT First membership. Also, I mentioned in a previous chapter notes that I was hoping Neptune was in Volume 6 because I had something planned for him, and someone suggested I just put a small scene in my story including him because it looked like he wouldn't be in Volume 6. So, I did that and now it turned out his small cameo in Episode 1 fit almost perfectly with what I wrote, so full steam ahead for that little twist I had planned. (Crap...did I just make a train pun? Writing for Yang is going to ruin me. lol ) Speaking of Yang, I now have to make some minor adjustments to my post Volume 5 chapters for her, and maybe some major adjustments for a few other characters, but it seems like everything is mostly going to work out. (Thank goodness I don't have to completely rewrite them all, but damn, I might have to remove one hell of a funny scene to make what I had planned work better with canon's pacing. Having a week in show time instead of a couple days before they get on the train gives me some room to adjust things. Yeah, I know. I'm being vague. We will see what happens in Volume 6. I've got plenty of time to rewrite things before my story gets there.) Ok, Enough of talking about Volume 6. Here is the end of Volume 3 and Part 1 of the series. Enjoy.

**"PYYYRRRHHHAAAA!"**

When Weiss' vision cleared, there were no longer any Grimm in sight. It was deathly silent as she blinked the spots from her eyes. Her vision instantly adjusted to darkness again, letting her get a good look at the top of the tower once more.  The dragon Grimm looked like it turned to stone.

The only noise to come to her ears was the crackle of fires and what sounded like the flapping of a bird's wings. As she was about to run to the tower to help, a hand came down on her shoulder. Weiss jumped and spun around, looking up into the face of Ruby's uncle. She now noticed the smell of alcohol that always seemed to follow him.

_'How did I not smell him coming?'_

He looked down at her. "I'll get her. You get to the safe zone."

Weiss was undeterred. "I can help."

Qrow wasn't taking any backtalk. "Go! This place will be crawling with Grimm again soon."

Weiss stood there looking between him and the tower.  Inside, she was worried sick about her team leader. She recognized that pained scream as Ruby's voice. On the outside, she was putting up a facade of composure, her eyes hard.

"I'm not leaving Ruby behind."

His eyes went soft for the first time she had seen since she met him. "I'll get her. I promise.  If you get killed while I'm up there, she'd blame herself.  You need to go."

Weiss looked at him, then the tower, then back at his face, eventually dropping her defiant gaze and nodding. "Pyrrha is up there too."

He nodded once and ran for the tower as Weiss reluctantly started running back toward the docks to make it to the safe zone. She met Jaune when she arrived. He ran up to her. "Weiss!"

As she turned and looked at him, she could see the desperation in his eyes. "Weiss! Where is Pyrrha? Where is Ruby?"

Weiss dropped onto a crate and put her arms on her knees, breathing heavy as she tried to get a grip on her emotions. She noticed her cheeks were wet when Jaune grabbed her shoulders and shook her, just barely keeping it gentle.  He was almost at the end of his ability to stay even remotely calm.  "Weiss! Where are they!?"

She had never heard him sound so desperate.

Everything was finally catching up to her.  Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, and her body was **demanding**  an outlet.  New tears were starting to leak from her eyes, but she held them back.  She **had** to hold on to herself, just a bit longer, or she wouldn't be able to talk.  She barely choked out the explanation.   "M...me and R-ruby made it to the-the tower. Ruby ran up, and th-then there was a scream, a-and a bright light. Then the Grimm was frozen..and Ruby's uncle showed up and said...said he'd get her, and made me c-come here."

She looked up at him and noticed the tears running down his face. While she learned over the years to keep her emotions hidden, Jaune had always worn his heart on his sleeve. She realized he was so much like Yang in that regard.  The thought of her now crippled teammate was the breaking point.  The walls finally collapsed and she let them.  She needed the release.  Weiss found herself lunging at Jaune, wrapping him in a hug, sobbing. "I don't know what happened, Jaune! I don't know if they are ok! I'm scared."

Jaune hugged her back, trying to comfort his friend, even as he was in the same state she was. "Me too Weiss. Me too."

The two sat there for several minutes as Weiss let her raging emotions leave her body, Jaune offering support even as he probably needed it as much as her.  She was thankful for the gesture.  Eventually, there was the sound of footsteps coming toward them and Weiss turned to see Qrow walking up to them, holding an unconscious Ruby in his arms. She let go of Jaune and ran up to them, looking Ruby over, her concern once again spiking, then looked up to Qrow's face as Jaune walked up next to her. She had a sinking dread settle in her gut, but she had to ask. "Where's Pyrrha?"

Qrow shifted Ruby to one arm, and looked at Jaune, pity in his eyes. He sighed and reached behind his back, pulling out a familiar golden shield and circlet from under his cape and handed them to him. "I'm sorry kid."

Jaune took the items in shaky hands and stared at them. He quietly spoke out a simple "no" before collapsing to his knees and beginning to sob, the last bits of hope he had for Pyrrha's survival gone. He had pushed himself far, far past his limit. Now, he had nothing left. Weiss knelt down next to him and put her arms around his shoulders, trying to return the support he had given her.  "I'm sorry Jaune.  I'm so sorry."

She knew she was awful at comforting people. She was getting...better, using Ruby and Yang as examples, but she was still abysmal at it. Jaune knew her though. She trusted the klutz knew she was giving him her best. With tears in her own eyes, she looked up at Qrow. "Where are you taking her?"

Qrow looked down at his niece. "Going to get her checked out by a medic, then taking her home to Patch with Yang. She doesn't seem to have any injuries that I can see. She is just unconscious. When she wakes up, we will find out what happened."

Something in his expression told her he already knew exactly what happened...or at least had a **very** good idea.  She wanted to confront him on it, but there were more important things right now. She could wait a while longer for answers.

"Can...can we come see her when she wakes up?"

Qrow looked down at her, then sighed. "Sure kid. I'll have her call you. Scroll reception should reach from there to Vale."

After he left, Weiss sat with Jaune a bit more, letting him cry on her shoulder. It was the least she could do.  She needed to check on the rest of her team, but she didn't want to leave him alone. He was in an even more fragile state than she was, and she was just barely holding together as is. Eventually, she got him standing and walking with some help. "Come on Jaune, let's go find Ren and Nora."

After dropping Jaune off with Nora and Ren and informing them of Pyrrha's fate, sitting with them while Nora and Jaune sobbed for their friend and even the normally quiet Ren had misty eyes, she eventually made her way over to the medical tent that held Yang and Blake...only to discover Blake was missing. As she frantically looked around she spotted Sun and ran up to him.

"Sun! Where is Blake!?

A voice behind her croaked out. "She's gone."

Weiss turned around to see Yang laying on a cot and staring at the ceiling. "What do you mean she is gone?"

Sun spoke up. "Once she made sure everyone was ok, she left." He looked between Yang and Weiss and seemed to come to a decision. "I'm going after her."

Weiss took a moment and just looked at him, then nodded. "Good luck. Bring her back Sun."

Sun nodded and ran off. Weiss went over and knelt down next to Yang, gripping her remaining hand. "He'll find her Yang."

Yang made no reply. She seemed completely out of it. Weiss tried another tactic. "Qrow got Ruby out. She is unconscious, but he thinks she will be ok. He's gonna take you both back to Patch. I'll come with you."

"No. You will be coming home Weiss."

Weiss froze at the voice. The sudden appearance of a new person managed to catch Yang's attention. She turned her head to look over Weiss' shoulder. Weiss slowly turned around to see one of the last people she wanted to see at that moment. "Father..."

"Come Weiss. I have come to bring you home."

Weiss felt her resolve start to crumble. He always had that effect on her. She desperately wished she could just ignore him like she did his phone calls, but he is not the sort of man you can just ignore. "But, Father. I can't leave. My...my team needs me."

Jacques Schnee narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "Young lady. This 'war zone' is no place for the heiress of the SDC. It is not safe here. You are to return home at once."

"But..."

"Now, Weiss!" The sharp tone of his voice made Weiss flinch as any courage she had left melted away. She looked back at Yang, seeing the pain in her eyes, and she wanted nothing more than to stay with her team. Her eyes fell away from Yang's and she slowly turned away from her teammate. "Yes...Father."

Yang had never seen Weiss so...submissive before. She weakly reached out toward Weiss, but couldn't do more than watch as her white haired teammate reluctantly walked away from her, to go back to Atlas with her father, leaving her behind...

\------

As Weiss walked behind her Father, she looked around to see the devastation that Vale had suffered. Injured everywhere. Smashed robots and buildings littering the streets. It truly did look like a war zone. As she got to her Father's airship, she stopped and turned around, looking over the place she called home for the last year. The one place she felt free. Her Father called her name. His tone made it sound like a command. _'It may as well be.'_ she thought to herself as she made her way up the ramp and down the aisle, taking a seat next to the window while her Father sat next to her.

She watched out the window as the airship took off and she continued to watch as Vale faded into the distance and out of reach. She schooled her face as best she could. She would not show weakness in front of him. She had already done so pleading with him to stay, but she had to stay strong now, or potentially suffer more comments about her behavior.  The sun was just starting to rise, the dawn of a new day.  Weiss always thought a new day signalled good things and greeted it with a smile, but not today.  She watched the sun rise with no emotion on her face, hiding her feelings once more.  Inside, she was weeping for the people and home she had just lost.

 

** End of Series 1.  Series 2 begins 11/10/18. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that we end the first part of the series. It is kind of implied in canon that Blake disappeared and Weiss went home after several days in Vale, but I didn't know how to make that work properly, so everything is kind of crammed into a single night, with Weiss leaving Vale just as the sunrise arrives.
> 
> It is safe to assume Jacques started heading for Vale the moment the alarms started going off with an armed escort, and as such, managed to arrive within 10 hours or so. Volume 5 makes it seem like you can make the trip from Atlas to Mistral by airship in about a day, so this didn't seem too implausible.
> 
> As for the aftermath of the Battle of Beacon, we get a little bit of explanation from Yang and Qrow, and about 4 short video clips to work with, so I focused on how people would react immediately after the battle. It is always speculated that Qrow retrieved Pyrrha's circlet from Beacon Tower along with getting Ruby, so I used that to describe how Jaune came to be in possession of it.
> 
> For those that were hoping for Pyrrha to survive, just wanted to let you guys know I went back and forth on that for a while before I made my decision, but ultimately decided to keep to canon on that one. Perhaps in one of my future stories, that will change. 
> 
> Finally, someone on Fanfiction.net asked me if they could use my Shark Weiss as inspiration for a fic of theirs, so even though I made sure to tell them that most of the credit should go to Spudato because they inspired my work, I decided to add a new tag and name this as an AU. (Never thought I'd end up making my own AU when I started this fic.)
> 
> With that, I hope you all enjoyed. Comments are always appreciated and I will see you all next week with A Shark Dressed in White (Part 2)


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